LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

. siieif...Ji£?5 



i 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 



Forest Tree Planters' 



MANUAL. 



"EMBODYING SUCH INSTRUCTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR 

TREE PLANTING AND CULTIVATION AS EXPERIENCE 

AND OBSERVATION HAVE DEMONSTRATED 

TO BE USEFUL AND RELIABLE."— Fide 

Resolution of Ex. Committee. 









By LEONARD B. HODGES. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Minnesota State Forestry Association. 



ST. PAUL, MINN: 

J. J. LEMON, BOOK AND JOB PEINTEE. 

1879. 
X L 






C.9 






PREFACE. 



IHE object of this work is concisely stated on the title page. It will 
be practical, and will embody such practical suggestions and ex- 
periences in forest culture, as are known to be reliable. It is intended 
as an aid to all who are interested in forestry, and to all who are trying 
to redeem the treeless regions and render them not only habitable, but 
desirable for permanent homes. 

No attempt will be made for originality, but all available sources of 
information will be invaded and plundered for the benefit of all who are 
trying to make homes on the great western prairies. 

L. B. H. 



Preparation of the Soil. 



Cii 



XPERIENCE has demonstrated beyond cavil, that a proper and 
thorough preparation of the soil, is a pre-requisite of success. Were 
I to fit up a ten acre piece of prairie for the planting of a tree claim 
under the provisions of the Congressional Timber Culture Act, this is 
about the way I slwuld do it. 

I would break, the prairie in June, from the 15th to 25th, if possible. 
I would break it about three inches deep, and do it well. No baulks or 
" cut and cover " should be tolerated. The sod should be all cut clear 
and all turned over; whether "kinked " or jointed down flat, makes no 
difference, so you only break in the proper season and do it well. In 
the following October you will find the sod tolerably well decomposed, 
and also an inch or so of soil beneath the sod. Then, either cross-plow 
or back-set, going from one to two inches deeper. The following spring 
this soil is in good condition for a crop. Any kind of a hoed crop is 
preferable to small grain, because to grow corn, potatoes, &c., profitably, 
requires tliorough cultivation, and just this thorough cultivation which 
your hoed crop demands, is just tlie treatment the soil needs in fitting it 
up for tree planting. Another year of such cultivation before the tree- 
cuttings or tree seed is planted, is advisable, if you have time. If not, 
go ahead with your planting. 

Under the provisions of the Timber Culture Act, as amended, you can 
grow two hoed crops as above, and plant your young forest trees, 
seeds or cuttings, in the fall, after harvesting the second hoed crop, or in 
the following spring. You can raise two crops of wheat, or other small 
grain, insteacf of the hoed crop, if you choose, but in so doing you do 
not prepare the ground so thoroughly for forest culture, and you are 
pretty sure to sow more or less foul stuff with your small grain, which 
entails an endless amount of hard work in its extermination ; for it must 
be exterminated promptly if you expect 3'our young forest to prosper as 
it should. No weeds or foul stuff should be allowed to go to seed. 

Clean culture till the trees have so far grown and develoj)ed as to com- 
pletely shade the ground, is just what you must have to produce the 
most satisfactory results, after which the annual falling of the foliage 
mulches the ground and renders further cultivation superfluous. 

The foregoing remarks are intended to apply to the common average 
undulating or rolling prairie. There is, however, a very large amount of 
very smooth and level prairie in western Minnesota, especially in the 
valley of the Red River, where the treatment should be somewhat differ- 
ent. Much of this land is covered with a short, thin growth of the 
meanest sort of slough grass. The sod is tough, very tough ; in fact, 
tough is no name for it. Unless broken in the proper season, it might as 
well not be broken at all. If you break it too early, the grass grows up 
through it much more luxuriantly than ever before. If you break it a 
Little two late it bakes down like an adobe brick, and requires time, 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS MANUAL. 5 

frost, air and moisture to slack it. There is no particular use in trying 
to raise any kind of a crop on such land the next year after breaking. 
My own experience in the treatment of this sort of prairie, is to break 
the last of June and first of July. Let it lay for about a year, and then 
either back-set or cro'^s-plow, bringing up as much fresh dirt as you can. 
In fact, I would summer fallow it the next season after breaking, and I 
.think the second season after breaking the sod I would sow it to wheat. 
By this time the ameliorating influences of sun, air, frost, moisture and 
summer fallow, will have so far operated on the obtuse and refractory 
nature of the soil as to have changed to a great extent its naturally sour, 
cold, disagreeable character, and put in condition to begin to repay the 
labor heretofore bestowed on it. 

There are latent virtues in such land well worth developing. Onoe 
brought out, and you will be amply repaid for the extra time and labor 
it has cost. Most any kind of good manure is a sovereign panacea for 
this sort of prairie ; not because the ground is lacking in fertility, for it 
is not, but because the manure acts as an alterative, neutralizing the 
sourness of the soil. This sort of land, once thoroughly conquered, will 
prove of inexhaustible fertility, and, I feel confident, would then pro- 
duce a thrifty growth of Black and Gray Ash, Basswood, Red, AVhite 
and Rock Elm, Hackberry, Cottonwood, Box Elder, White Willow, Tam- 
arac. Soft Maple, Ironwood, Wild Plum, Cherry, Crab Apple and prob- 
ably other varieties of timber, and will prove to be admirably adapted to 
wheat, oats, barley, all vegetables and timothy, blue-joint and red-top 
grasses. 

MANNER OF PLANTING. 

The Timber Culture Act as now amended, allows great latitude in this 
direction, but the fact that the doctrine of thick planting is officially 
endorsed and required, must not be lost sight of. Your trees when 
planted must average not more than four feet apart each way. This 
requires some twenty-seven hundred and thirty trees to be planted on 
each and every one of the ten acres. 

The two primary objects, shelter and fuel, ars constantly to be kept in 
view. Those once secured, the aesthetic and ornamental naturally claim 
proper attention. No vegetable grows more luxuriantly, with proper care 
and cultivation, than the Scotch Pine. No tree, unless we except the 
pioneer tree, the Cottonwood, is better adapted to the greater portion of 
our treeless region. A double row of Scotch or White Pine — rows eight 
to ten feet apart — breaking joints in planting, trees eight to ten feet apart 
in the rows, will, in five or six years from planting, form a timber-belt 
and shelter so close as scarcely to admit the flight of a bird through its 
dense foliage of living green. 

And I can truthfully say about the same thing of our own native 
White Pine ; Avhile from year to year, far beyond the limits of an ordi- 
nary human life, they continue to grow, increasing in size and in value, 
monuments of arboreal beauty. But unfortunately, like too large a pro- 
portion of the good things of earth, their high price places them beyond 
the reach of the great majority of poor men who wander over our great 
prairies in search of tree claims and of homes ; and as I am writing this 
as much in the interest of the poor man as of any other class, we must 
talk about something within his reach — something sure to grow, some- 
thing cheap, rapid in growth, absolutely hardy, something that will "git 
up and git." The Cottonwood will do all this, and so will the White 



b FOREST TREE PLANTERS MANUAL. 

Willow. The fellows who are too poor to grow them successfully, have 
no business on the prairies. 

PEOPER DISTRIBUTION OF THE 27,300 TREES WE MUST PLANT ON 

THE TEN ACRES. 

There is once in a while a fellow who will plant it all in one grove 
forty rods square, and put his house, barns, stables, stock yards, right in 
the middle of it. Others will plant a timber-belt five rods wide along 
the north and Avest lines of the quarter section, while others will plant a 
strip two and a half rods clear around the whole quarter section. Where 
the quarter section is tolerably uniform in surface and soil, either way 
has its merits and advantages. Should, as is often the case, the quarter 
section be cut up more or less with ponds, lakes, marshes or running 
streams, then the plan should conform to the topography. It also hap- 
pens that a qur.rter section, every other way desirable, has at least ten 
acres of sandy or gravelly knolls. In such case, plant them by all 
means with the varieties suitable for such localities, and in a few years 
you will transform them into the most valuable portion of your quarter 
section. 

CLOSE PLANTING. 

I had supposed the reasons for close planting had been so fully set 
forth, and the advantages so apparent to every thinking man, that nothing 
would be necessary to say on this subject in this work. Yet, scarcely a 
day passes, when I am not called upon for the reasons. Not wishing to 
cumber these pages with any surplusage on any branch of forestry, and 
yet, in deference to many whose views on many subjects, I entertain 
great respect, I hereby present the reasons that incline me to favor close 
planting in starting a young forest.- 

In the study of forestry, nature is our greatest and best qualified teacher. 
To the close observer, the pages of her great book are spread wide open 
through the primeval forest, over the wide-spreading prairies — every 
where — covered with characters so legible, that the way-faring man, 
though a fool, need not err. I have now in mind a young forest in Min- 
nesota, that I regard a model. Twenty-five years ago I passed over the 
ground on which this young forest now stands. It was then what we 
would term "grub prairie," thickly studded with Jack Oak grubs from 
six to twelve inches high. There were patches of Hazel among them 
There were occasionally, feeble scattering specimens of Aspen. Curious 
to know of the development that might occur if this piece of ground had. 
a fair show, I protected it for years from the fires that had for ages an- 
nually swept over it. Soon the grubs began to send up strong, straight, 
thrifty leaders. The Aspen came along the next season with great vigor. 
In a year or two more. Butternut trees began to appear, (probably planted 
by the provident squirrel, who must have carried them more than a mile, 
as no bearing trees were then standing any nearer). Soon the Bass wood 
put in a strong delegation. For the first ten years that patch of ground 
grew into a perfect thicket, so dense as to be nearly impenetrable. Sha- 
ding the ground from the rays of the sun ; holding the moisture from 
too rapid evaporation, the annual shedding of the foliage, mulching the 
Sround and answering all the purposes of thorough cultivation ; this 
dense mass constantly shooting upward toward the sky. Then began 
the demonstration of the doctrine of the "survival of the fittest." At 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS MANUAL. i 

that period, there could not have been less than ten thousand young trees 
to the acre. Gradually, the more vigorous began to assert their suprem- 
acy. Gradually, the feeble, the dwarfs and pigmies began to disap- 
pear, and at the close of the second decade, the underbrush had nearly 
disappeared, and a noble grove of Oak, Basswood, Butternut, Aspen, &c., 
good for twenty cords per acre, stood, where twenty years previous noth- 
ing but Jack-oak grubs, Hazel-bush and grass covered the ground. To 
emphasize the lesson, nature is repeating the lesson so taught, in a thou- 
sand localities in Minnesota, always with equal and uniform success, 
wherever her young plantations are protected from fire and cattle. And 
yet, with all this overwhelming testimony, conclusive, in proof of the 
great value of close forest planting, educated men, college graduates, 
authors, editors, &c., quite frequently evince a disposition to lock horns 
with me on this subject. Ye .blind guides and fools, throw away your 
musty books, and your still mustier notions, and get out into the thick- 
ets and brush and tall timber, and stay there twenty years, and you will 
learn something. And now I have my hand in, I will call in other tes- 
timony on this point, and so far as I am concerned, close this discussion,- 
and quit answering letters from fellows who think they can grow a forest 
by planting trees twelve feet apart on the unbroken prairie. 

Prof. E. Gale, of the Kansas Agricultual College, Manhattan, says : 
" The value of close planting can be realized much better after the very sad ex' 
perience of 1874. There are several points that may be urged for close planting- 
The force of these observations will be much better appreciated when we have 
carefully examined the facts which can be adduced by experience. Trees should 
be planted closely. 

1. For the mutual protection of the trees. 

2. For econony in culture. 

3. For immediate protection. 

4. For the purpose of securing available timber. 

5. For the purpose of securing early returns from our planting." 

Again. In speaking of that clause in the Timber culture act of 1873- 
4, permitting trees to be planted twelve feet apart, he says : 

" Trees thus planted will not serve the purpose of a forest, but virtually become 
an open orchard." — Correct. 

Dr. Franklin B. Hough, in his very valuable report on forestry, refer- 
ring to this point, says : 

" Opinions very generally agree as to error in the clause allowing a space of 
twelve feet between trees at tirst planting. In fact, this open spacing appears to 
be in opposition to sound principles in sylviculture, and is to be regretted, because 
on the prairies, and on the great western plains, where, planting is most needed, 
the drying winds that prevail at certain seasons cannot well be endured by trees, 
unless so closely set as to shelter one another from the earliest period. Such plan- 
tations would, of course, require trimming from time to time, as the trees became 
larger and required more room." 

Horace Greeley, says : 

" Plant thickly, and of diverse kinds, so as to cover the ground promptly and 
choke out weeds and shrubs, with full purpose to thin and prune as circumstances 
may dictate." 

Judge C. E. Whiting, of Monona county, Iowa, remarked in 1869, that 
he had at first planted Cottonwood eight feet apart each way, giving each 
tree 64 feet of ground. They grew well, but too many branches in pro- 
portion to the amount of body wood. He had adopted the rule of plant- 
ing three feet each way, giving nine square feet to a tree, and in this 
order they grew tall, and straight, soon shaded the ground, and in three 
years needed no further cultivation than thinning as became necessary, 



8 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

by removing alternate rows and drawing out the poles with one horse 
and chain. 

In the Forestry Annual of the Iowa Horticultural Society, Judge Whi- 
ting, one of the committee charged with the preparation of the Annual, 
from his own experience, (perhaps the most extensive of any person in 
the country, in this branch of forestry,) saj^s: 

"I have in belts, around my fields, varying from single to twenty rows of trees, 
mostly planted so close as to take 4,356 to the acre, (the amended timber culture 
act only calls for 2,730 per acre), about 40 acres of timber. The trees in these 
belts varj' as to time of planting ; some are eighteen years old, and some only one 
year planted, the greater portion, however, are from five to twelve years of age. 
The needed thinning of these belts furnishes all the wood that is wanted on the 
farm, including stakes and rails to keep the fences in repair ; posts for all repairs 
needed, and many for new fencss, I annually build in extending my farm. There 
is not a stick of needed timber on the farm, from a pea-bush, a grape-vine stake, 
or a binding pole, np to a fair sized saw-log, that cannot be had from my groves, 
without cutting a fi igle tree that does not need thinning out from the groves." 

But why cuml ler the ground with further testimony? The foregoing 
is conclusive, unimpeachable and unanswerable in proof of close planting. 

I submit the case to the jury without further comment. 

The farm of Judge Whiting, is on the line of railroad from St. Paul to 
Omaha. It consists of some 1,800 acres, and his closely planted young 
forests are the admiration of every one who has the good fortune to see 
them. They are an unanswerable argument in favor of close tree plant- 
ing. 

VAEIETIES OF TREES SUITABLE FOR YOUNG FORESTS, IN MINNE- 
SOTA—ALSO, FOR PLANTING ALONG THE HIGHWAYS. 

In the elucidation of this topic, I begin by inserting a paper I prepared 
for the State Horticultural Society, and read at its annual session, in 
Rochester, January, 1878. 

PLANTING TREES FOR SHADE AND ORNAMENT ON STREETS AND 
ROADS— WHAT TREES TO PLANT, AND HOW TO PLANT THEM. 

The foregoing is the heading of the accompanying article. The text 
was furnished by Prof. Lacy. I don't know what book he got it out of; 
neither do I care. 

There ought to be a good many sermons preached on that text to all 
the people of Minnesota. Right here in Rochester, it don't seem so neces- 
sary. The people here have appreciated the importance and necessity 
of this worlv, and have taken hold of it in earnest. Tlie changed appear- 
ance of this town-site, as between 1854, when I first camped on it and 
now, 1878, is due more to tree planting than to any other one class of 
improvements. 

Great as has been the change in this immediate vicinity within so 
short a time, still greater changes have occurred in other localities. Vil- 
lages and cities originally built on the open prairie, without a tree or 
shrub in sight, whose streets and avenues were formerly raked fore and 
aft by the fierce blasts of winter, and scorched by the blazing suns of 
summer, have, by the intervention of the tree planter, been converted 
into bowers of beauty, protected alike from furious wind, and blazing 
sun. 

No investment of time and money is more satisfactory or more perma- 
nently useful, than that employed in planting forest trees along the lines 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS MANUAL. 9 

of our public highways. In a prairie country like ours, no investment 
adds so much to the beauty of the country, or the ready cash value of 
the real estate so adorned. The prosecution of this good work appeals 
alike to the best judgment and most cultivated taste. 

Much has been done in this direction, but tar more remains yet to be 
done. We have done just enough to thoroughly demonstrate the prac- 
tical nature'of the work, the thorough adaptability of our prairie soil to 
develop magnificent specimens of forest trees. 

In the -tree planting returns of 1877, the number of rods planted to 
trees and hedges along the public highways of Minnesota, is given as 
'265,633, equivalent to 642 miles and 192 rods. The returns are imper- 
fect, incomplete. One thousand miles would be much nearer the mark. 
This is a good beginning, but only a beginning. 

Have any of you figured on the probable number of miles of public 
highway in the prairie portion of Minnesota ? There are full five hun- 
dred prairie townships in what is known as the treeless region of Min- 
nesota. Then there are at least half as many more prairie toAvnships in 
other comparatively Avell timbered counties, like Olmstead and Dodge. 
This rough estimate, which I think is below the actual figures, gives us 
750 townships of prairie. Allowing thirty-six miles of public highway 
to each township, gives us 27,000 miles. This must be doubled to give 
us a row each side the highway, making a total of not less than 54,000 
miles yet to be planted along the highways of the prairie regions of Min- 
nesota ; enough to reach twice around the globe and some four thousand 
miles to lap over. Who can correctly estimate the climatic effects and 
the ameliorating influences following so grand a work? I assume, as a 
matter of course, that in the treeless region, the planting would be close 
enough to form staunch and permanent wind breaks. 

The protection thus afforded to growing crops, would of itself be of 
inestimable value. The protection afforded to orchards and other fruit 
growing institutions, would alone amply repay the cost, while the com- 
fort afforded to man and beast, would be beyond the power of figures to 
express. 

VARIETIES OF FOREST TREES BEST ADAPTED FOR THIS WORK. 

This is so largely a matter of taste that no list that could be made 
would suit every one. This task must conform to facts and to common 
sense. The adaptability of the soil to each variety of forest tree, must 
be recognized. The natural limits that have been assigned to each 
variety of forest tree, must be borue in mind, and then the peculiar ser- 
vice required in the particular locality to be benefitted, and, finally, the 
pecuniary ability of the owner of the real estate must be taken into 
account. 

For merely shade, in my opinion, no tree can excel the White Elm 
( Ulmus Aviericanus). As an ornamental shade tree it is absolutely unap- 
proachable. It is undoubtedly the most " magnificent vegetable of the 
temperate zone." It is .long-lived, hardy, and a rapid grower. But it 
needs room to spread itself. Planted sixty feet apart, their tops will inter- 
lock long before reaching maturity. The White Elm will do well on any 
Minnesota prairie, from Iowa to Manitoba, but grows more rapidly on 
river bottoms and rich, moist soil. It seems to possess the advantage of 
withstanding the bad eifects of dust and smoke, and would consequently 
be better adapted to planting in large towns than most other varieties of 
trees. In this connection, let me warn the fellows out on the broad 



10 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

prairies, not to plant too large White Elms. I have seen them trans- 
planted from two to three or four inches in diameter, trimmed to bare 
poles, tops cut off say twelve to fifteen feet from the ground, and in three- 
years develope so much top that the wind would blow them over so far 
as to leave them standing at a very acute angle. They seem to develope 
top more rapidly than root. On the rich, moist, alluvial soil of the west- 
ern counties, plant small trees. 

Acer Saccharinum — Sugar Maple, Rock Maple. 

The Sugar Maple, as a shade and ornamental tree, cannot be too highly 
prized. It is indigenous to Minnesota, but is more particular about its 
location than the M'''hite Elm. In this state it prefers well drained local- 
ities. A locality in which the White Elm would flourish to perfection, 
would, in many instances, prove fatal to the Sugar Maple. I have had 
but poor success in planting them on level prairie, with d«ep clay sub- 
soil. Such localities should be underdrained for the Sugar Maple. I 
very much doubt if they can be made to live where the ground is satur- 
ated with moisture during the growing season. On the second bench of 
the streams, and along the banks and sides of ravines, on any tolerably 
good soil, and on hill sides, the Sugar Maple flourishes and reaches its 
best proportions. Poor, sandy soils are not suited to the growth of the 
Sugar Maple, neither are most of the rich bottom lands of the Red River 
Valley. 

Juglans Nigra — Black Walnut. 

All things considered, I am strongly inclined to the belief, that the 
Black Walnut is the most valuable forest tree that can be grown in INIin- 
nesota. Its growth is very rapid, and when fully developed, is one of the 
largest of our forest trees. It prefers a rich, moist soil, but will flourish 
and make a very satisfactory growth on any number one prairie not too 
far north. The Minnesota valley seems to be the northern limits for this 
tree in that portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi river. I have 
never seen any Black Walnut to amount to anything, north of the valley 
of the Minnesota river. They are a tender tree when young, and we 
occasionally get a winter in which they require considerable protection. 
As a shade and ornamental tree, it sometimes rivals the Wliite Elm. 
When planted as a shade tree, give it plenty of room, that its natural 
habit of throwing out a low, broad top may be encouraged. Bryant tells 
of a Black Walnut tree at three feet from the ground, twenty-five feet in 
circumference. "At the height of twelve or fifteen feet, the trunk divides 
into several branches, each of which by itself would constitute a large 
tree ; the whole forming an immense canopy, overshadowing an area one 
hundred and fifty feet in diameter." 

Juglans Cinerea — Butternut. 

When grown in open ground, throws out a low, spreading top ; is a 
hardy, rapid grower, and in all respects a desirable shade and ornamen- 
tal tree. This tree and its first cousin, the Black Walnut, ought to be 
considered in the double character of not only forest but fruit trees. A 
Black Walnut orchard, or a Butternut orchard, propagated from tlie seed 
planted on the right kind of soil, would soon throw in tlie sliade any 
apple orchard in Minnesota; would come into bearing as quick, would 
grow faster, stand more grief, and bring more bushels of either fruit or 
dollars, in the long run. I suggest, as a practical measure, the ofl'ering 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANTAL. 11 

of liberal premiums to encourage the planting of Black Walnut and But- 
ternut orchards. 

Tilia Americana — Linn, Linden, Basswood. 

This is another very desirable shade tree. Rapid grower, hardy, long 
lived. Will grow and develope well on any good farming land, but pre- 
fers a rich, moist, cool soil. Furnishes good shade and shelter for man 
and beast, and also bountiful crops of flowers, from which the "little 
busy bee " manufactures a most excellent article of honey. Basswood, 
suitable for transplanting, is not easil}^ found in large numbers in our 
native forests, and the main source of supply for shade trees, must be 
from propagation in forest tree nurseries. 

Praxiniis Americana — White Ash. 

One of our most valuable forest trees. Very hardy. Rapid grower, 
and when planted wide apart, throws out a beautiful, wide spreading top. 
Most of the prairie soil of Minnesota is well adapted to the growth of 
the White Ash. 

This tree will do its best in a cool, deep, moist soil. It don't amount 
to much on a warm, dry, sandy soil; is not afraid of cold weather; 
deserves a higher rank in public estimation. For general planting on 
our northwestern prairies, no forest tree merits more general cultivation 
and attention. It is easily propagated from seed, and can be furnished 
by millions ; cheap as corn fodder. 

Fraxinus Sambucifolia — Black Ash. 
For merely a shade and ornamental tree, perhaps preferable to White 
Ash ; Avill grow best on ground too wet for White Ash ; will flourish and 
develop magnificently on ground too wet for most any other timber 
except it may be Tamarac. 

Populus Angulata, or Populus Monilif&ra — Cottonwood. 

The highly refined, fastidious and aristocratic element of our large 
toAvns and cities, unite in despising this noble tree. But who cares? It 
has its own merits, merits that will cause it to be propagated, cherished, 
nournished and protected by willing hands and loving hearts, until the 
great interior treeless region of the North American continent shall have 
been reclaimed and become one of the traditions of the past. When the 
marble monuments vainly erected to ]3erpetuate the memory of the names 
of its traducers, shall have crumbled into dust ; when even the State Hor- 
ticultural Society has ceased to exist, even then will this monumental 
tree shed its blessings and its cotton alike upon the just and unjust. 

I propose to stand by the Cottonwood. Whether planted ou a sand 
bank or a river bottom, in the door yard or in a desert, on the prairie or 
in the timber, the result is a great, sturdy, healthy forest tree. It is a 
success, and that's why people plant it. It don't fool away years of 
precious time getting ready to do something, but it is up and coming 
from the word go. It is emphatically a pioneer tree. This and the White 
Willow will do more to prepare the way for the cultivation of fruit trees, 
than any other agencies I can think of. 

I have enumerated enough of the deciduous trees. I could easily have 
extended the list to twice its length. But " Enough is as good as a feast." 

Evergreens. 

I shall not branch out much on evergreens ; had rather wait and hear 



12 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

from John Kepner. I desire to say a good word for the Scotch Pine. I 
find it absolutely hardy, and a thrifty, good grower on the broad prairies 
of Kandiyohi and Stevens counties ; have had them growing out for 
nearly four years. They always look bright and healthy. They are, un- 
doubtedly, a good tree to plant by the road-side. It is the great lumber 
tree of Scandinavian nations of northern Europe. It delights in buffet- 
ing old Boreas ; is admirably adapted for wind-breaks, and will be used 
extensively for this purpose just as fast as the prairie farmer becomes 
able to pay for it. 

I have experimented with various sorts of evergreens on the prairies, 
and have had more comfort from the Scotch Pine than all others com- 
bined. 

The European Larch, about which volumes have been written, has so 
far proved hardy, healthy, and a rapid grower on the main line of the 
St. Paul & Pacific railroad, where it has been planted as an experiment 
in different localities and on widely varying soils. From experience so 
gained, I should not be afraid to go in tolerably heavy on the European 
Larch. 

HOW TO PLANT THEM. 

It is all surplusage trying to tell this crowd how to plant trees. You 
know as much about it as I do ; but it may be this paper may fall into 
hands not so experienced as yours. And so I commence by saying, the 
first thing to do, is to prepare the ground. In commencing de novo on the 
prairie, I should first break the sod in June. I should let it sweat till Oc- 
tober. I would then back-set it, bringing up two or three inches of new 
ground. (I am supposing you are preparing to plant along the highway 
the whole length of your farm.) In the spring I would ]3lant it to pota- 
toes. I prefer potatoes for this purpose, because the ground gets worked 
over more in growing this crop than aniy other you would be likely to 
plant. After digging the potatoes in September, I would then jjlough 
the ground as deep as I possibly could ; the deeper the better. And then 
I would harrow thoroughly. I would have all the holes dug before I took 
up a tree, and I would dig big holes, not very deep, but a good ways 
across; deep enough so you can throAV in dirt, good mellow black soil, 
forming a little mound in the bottom of the hole to set the tree on. Then, 
while an assistant holds the tree in an upright position, manipulate the 
fine, soft, mellow earth all among the roots, spreading them out full length, 
so they nestle and lay comfortable like and natural. If any of the roots 
are bruised and mangled, trim them off smoothly with a sharp knife, and 
also cut out all dead roots. 

Too much care cannot be exercised in transplanting forest trees. In 
taking them up get all the root you can, especially small fibrous roots. 
Don't allow the roots to be exposed to sun or wind. Don't let them 
freeze while out of the ground. Plan your work so as to have the least 
possible number of hours intervene from the time the tree is lifted 
from its native spot till it is in the ground again. Should unavoidable 
delays occur, heel them in, or better still, bury them all over in loose 
earth, taking them out as you plant them. After getting the roots com- 
fortably arranged, shovel the fine, black, mellow soil in, pressing it firmly. 
You don't want to tramp it. 

I think most good sized trees, especially the Cottonwood, do l)etter 
planted somewhat deeper than they originally stood. 

Don't drown your trees with water. Many people heave in several 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 13 

buckets of water in each hole. ' This is unnecessary. Your tree don't 
want to stand in a mortar bed. More trees are killed by too much water 
than by too little. If possible, mulch thoroughly as soon as planted. 
Mulch with any good manure. Chip manure is best. Old hay or straw 
is good. 

If the ground is reasonably moist when the planting is done, good, 
thorough mulching will protect the tree from drought far more effectually 
than indiscriminate bucketfuls of cold water. Cold water is a good thing 
in its place, but needs to be used with some judgment. 

Don't mutilate your trees. This trimming up to bare poles and then- 
cutting the top off may be necessary in very exposed localities, as too 
much top resists the wind to such an extent as to loosen the hold of the 
roots to the soil. This won't do. In such locaUties plant small trees. 
A tree no larger than a rawhide riding-whip, with its full complement of 
fibrous roots, will soon get away from such trees as are usually planted 
along highways ; provided, always, you plant it in ground which has been 
thoroughly prepared, and then give it the same care, protection and cul- 
tivation you do your corn when you get fifty bushels per acre. If I 
was in a hurry, and couldn't wait, and must have big trees at once, I 
would take up root enough so there would be no necessity of cutting off 
the top ; only trimming the top into symmetry. It would be, perhaps, 
necessary to steady and brace it against the wind until well rooted. How 
to do this your own ingenuity should suggest. 

AFTER CARE. 

In planting a line of shade trees along a public highway, I should aim 
to dedicate a strip of ground at least one rod wide to this purpose. ■ I 
should plough that strip and harrow it at least twice each year, between 
May and August, keeping down all weeds and grass. Every year I should 
work the mulching when well decayed, into the ground, replacing it from 
year to year, until the tree is firmly established and able to help itself to 
food and drink. Bear in mind that a young tree needs care, protection, 
food and water, as much as a young steer, and the better treatment either 
gets, the better it grows and prospers. The mulching and cultivation is 
to the tree what corn, hay and water is to the steer. 

I cannot too strongly condemn the infamous and brutal treatment 
given to trees by men who ought to know and to do better. The man 
who handles trees in transplanting, as he would fence rails or posts, de- 
serves to lose them, and generally does. To illustrate : last spring I saw 
a large box of ornamental trees, mostly evergreens, on the platform at 
Willmar. After lying there exposed to wind and sun several days, I saw 
them opened. The moss and other mulch they were packed in had pre- 
vented the roots from drying, and had they at once been properly planted, 
could have been saved. It seemed a whole neighborhood had clubbed 
together, and each one's package was bound up separately. These pack- 
ages were taken from the box and laid on the platform, where, for several 
days they were exposed to drying winds and scorching sun. They were 
all killed within twelve hours ; but those fellows would come every day 
or two and carry off a bundle and plant them, all the same ; and you 
can't make one of them believe that a nurseryman is any better than a 
horse thief. 

We must preach to the people that a tree, if not exactly animal, is, at 
least, a living, breathing organism, as susceptible to good or bad treat- 



14 FOEEST TEEE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

ment as anybody ; as quick to appreciate good treatment as you or I, 
and as quick to resent bad treatment. In fact, there are few classes of 
living beings who tolerate less bad treatment than trees. 

WHEN TO PLANT— SPRING OPv FALL? 

This is a question often asked. I do not consider it of as much im- 
portance as many do. It is not half as important as a thorough prepa- 
ration of the soil, mulching and thorough cultivation. With most forest 
trees it really makes but little difference. For several years I have 
planted largely, commencing in the fall as soon as the leaves fall ; plant- 
ing until winter comes, heeling in or burying what is left, and in the 
spring commencing again and planting right along till 20th of May, or 
until the leaves start. Some seasons there is no perceptible difference 
between spring and fall planting of most varieties of trees. Should it 
set in very dry, as it sometimes does early in spring, and continue dry 
for several weeks, your spring planting will suffer to a certain extent, 
limited, however, by the amount of mulching and cultivation the trees 
receive during the season of trial. Should there be a reasonable supply 
of moisture during the spring and early summer, no appreciable differ- 
ence would be likely to be observed. Large sized trees, whether planted 
in the fall or in the spring, will quite frequently go through the first 
season making a good, healthy, vigorous growth, and if June and July 
of the next season is unusually hot and dry, succumb to the withering 
influences of the season. This, however, is largely prevented by mulch- 
ing or cultivation. 

Small forest trees, one, two and three year old, usually, and so far as 
my experience goes, have always escaped this peril. I have sometimes 
thought the transplanting of large forest trees from the forest to the open 
prairie, more hazardous in the fall than in the spring. 

Sometimes facts prove it to be so, and then again facts prove it not to 
be so. 

The fact is, you can't most always tell. 

With a thorough preparation of the soil, and prompt, clean culture, 
your trees, if properly handled and planted, will, as a rule, outlive the 
fellow that plants them. 

There are many other varieties of forest trees not enumerated in the 
foregoing paper, which deserve notice as eminently worth cultivating on 
the "Tree Claim." There are others well worth trying, some of which, 
although thus far having nearly failed, will yet, under more favorable 
conditions and with more skillful culture, become acclimated and accus- 
tomed to their new homes, and ultimately add largely to the value and 
attractions of the prairie regions. The following valuable paper, from 
the pen of Prof. N. H. Winchell, which I extract from " Transactions of 
Minnesota State Horticultural Society, 1875," gives a good idea of the 
varieties of forest timber indigenous to the soil and climate of Minnesota. 

NOTES ON THE BIG WOODS. 

BY N. H. WINCHELL — READ BY PROF. LACY. 

" The Big Woods " of Minnesota, consist of a southward spur from the forest- 
covered portion of the State, covering a strip about forty-live miles wide in the 
centre of the State, and reaching nearly to the Iowa State line. By this spur, the 
prairies of the State, at least, those in the southern part, are divided into two 
parts, the greater of which lies on the west of the Big Woods. The great material 
advantage the farmers of Minnesota occupying the prairies, have over those who, 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 15 

in other States are much further removed from timber, is easily seen, while others, 
who prefer timbered land to prairie, have the choice of thousand's of acres jc-t 
unoccupied in the region of the Big Woods. The boundary of this southern pro- 
longation of the northern timber, is not well marked, the trees gradually becom- 
ing thinner and smaller, and more and more restricted to the valleys of streams, 
till the country is changed to a treeless prairie. Around the outskirts of the 
woods, small oaks and aspens constitute almost the only arboreal vegetation ; but, 
within the woods, a great variety of hardy, deciduous trees are found, mingled 
with the usual species of shrubby vegetation. The general surface is much more 
rolling than in the prairie region, on the east or west, and the soil seems to be 
coarser, with more frequent boulders. Yet, there are, also, extensive flat tracts in 
the Big "Woods, that are as level as any prairie region. 

In general, the Big Woods may be thus bounded : Beginning a few miles west 
of Minneapolis, the eastern edge of the Big Woods crosses the Minnesota, in a 
line toward Lakeville, in Dakota county. Continuing in a southerly direction, it 
Ijasses about a mile east of Cannon City, and of Owatonna, when it takes a short 
bend to the west and northwest, passing about four miles north of Waseca, and 
near East Janesville, in Waseca county. In Blue Earth county, it is variously 
modified by the valleys, that are tributary to Minnesota from the south. Contin- 
uing west, about six miles south of South Bend, it turns north and crosses the 
Minnesota, sending out a spur northwestward, which follows, indefinitely, the 
Minnesota valley. Eunning along the west side of the Minnesota, distant from it 
about four miles, it begins to bear off toward the northwest, at St. Peter, and 
passes five miles west of Henderson. Between Arlington and New Auburn, in 
Sibley county, the timber line is on the east of the direct line. Near the former 
village, about four miles north, are some large patches of timber, containing large 
oaks on the west of the main road, and the line seems to swell several miles to 
the west, but at Arlington, the timber is entirely on the east of the town. Be- 
tween New Auburn and Glencoe, the timber line runs about a mile east of the 
main road, and about three miles east of Glencoe. It is found again, at four miles 
north of Glencoe. Thence, it continues west and northwest, to Darwin, on the 
St. Paul & Pacific Eailroad. North of that, its exact location has not been traced. 
It seems to run still northwestwardly, and to include the region of small lakes, in 
Pope, Douglas and Otter Tail counties, and the region known as the Leaf Moun- 
tains, in the wooded portion. North of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, the Big 
Woods widen out rapidly, both to the east and west, merging into the general 
forest of the northern part of the State. The term is strictly, and originally, only 
applicable to the spur +hat includes the Lower Minnesota valley, extending nearly 
to the Iowa line. The writer has crossed the spur in a number of directions. In 
passing from Farmington, in Dakota county, to Shakopee, in Scott county, the fol- 
lowing species of trees and shrubs were seen. For ten or twelve miles after en- 
tering the woods, verj- few large trees were seen, the oak shrubs being the largest, 
and almost the only tree-like vegetation. About half way to the Minnesota river, 
the maple and large elms, bass and iron-wood appear. 

Trees and Shrubs of the Big Woods. 

Oak shrubs. Apparently Quercus ilicifolia. Wang. 
Hazelnut. Corylus rostrata. Ait. (?) 
Bur Oak. Quercus macrocarpa. Michx, 
White Oak.' Quercus alba, L. 
Wild Red Cherry. Prunus Pennsylvanica. L. 
Trembhng Aspen. Populus tremuloides. Michx. 
Choke Cherry. Prunus Virginiana. L. 
Wild Plum. Prunus Americana. Marshall. 
White Ash. Fraxinus Americana. L. 
Thorn. Crataegus. 
Rose. Eosa blanda. Ait. 

June Berry. Amelanchier Canadensis. Var. Botryapium. Terr, and Gray. 
Round -leaved Cornel. Cornus circinata. L'Her. 
Common Elder. Sambucus Canadensis. L. 
American Crab-apple. Pyrus coronaria. L. 
[The young twigs and the under surface of the leaves are very woolly pubes- 
cent.] 

Black Cherry. Prunus serotina. Ehr. 



16 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

Frost Grape. Vitis cordifolia. Michx. 

American Elm. Llmus Americana. L. (PL Clayt.) Willd. 

High-bush Cranberry. Viburnum opulus. L. 

Two or three species of Willow. Salix. 

Green Ash. Fraxinufi Vividis. Michx. f. 

Pricklj^ Ash. Zanthoxylurn Americanum. Mill. 

Cockspur Thorn. Crataegus Crus-galli. L. 

Red Raspberry. Rubus strigosus. Michx. 

Black Currant. Ribes floridum. L. 

Cottonwood. Populus monilifera. Ait. 

Large-toothed Aspen. Populus grandidentata. Michx. 

Bass. Tilia Americana. L. 

Red Mulberry. Morus rubra. L. 

Ironwood. Ostrya Virginica. Willd. 

Sugar Maple. Acer Saccharinura. Wang. 

Soft Maple. Acer rubrum. L. 

Alternate-leaved Cornel. C'ornus altemifoUa. L. 

Bitternut. Carya cmiara, Nutt. 
. [Rare, east of Spring Lake.] 

Butternut. Juglins cinerea. L. 
[Very rare, except at Spring Lake and westward.] 

Slippery Elm. TJlinus fulva. Michx. 

Staghorn Sumac. Rus typhina. L. 

Tamarac. Larix Americana. Michx. 

Box Elder. Negundo aceroides. Moench. 

Wolfberry. Symplwricarpms occidentalis. R. Br. 

Panicled Cornel. C'ornus puniculata. L'Her. 
[The most common species of Cornel.] 

Between Shakopee and Mankato, the following additional species were seen in 
the valley of the Minnesota : 

, Kentucky Coffee Tree. Gymnocladus canadensis. Lam. . 
Red Cedar. Juniperus Virginiana. L. 
Black Walnut. Juglans nigra. L. 
Hackberry. Celtis occidentalis. L. 
Blue Beech. CarpAnus Americana. Michx. 
Yellow or Gray Birch. Betula lutea. Michx. f. 

[This birch has oblong catkins, and spreading obtuse lobes on the scales, the 
latter being three lines long. The hickory grows to about six inches in diameter, 
and then is invariably winter-killed. A large ti'act has lately been cut for fuel, 
near St. Peter. The hackberr)- is used for fuel, and for furniture. It frequents 
the heaviest timber. The butternut, is rarely large. The box-elder, sometimes 
exceeds three feet in diameter. In the absence of the sugar maple, its sap is used 
in the Upper ]kIinnesota valley, by the Sioux Indians, for making sugar and syrup, 
of which, it is said to furnish a very fine quality.] 

In traveling through the Big Woods, in 1874, the white birCh, {Betida alba var. 
fjopulifolia spach,) was noted in Hennepin and Carver counties. The bittersweet, 
{C'elastrus srandens, L.) is, also, abundant in the Big AVoods. There is a species of 
oak, that appears like red oak, ( Quercus rubra, L.j, that frequents the outskirts of 
the Big Woods. It is sometimes associated with the burr oak, in the " openings," 
and sometimes is found in company with the trembling aspen. It makes a smal- 
ler tree, generally, than the burr oak. Besides these, the Virginia creeper, {Am- 
pelopsis quinquefoliu. Michx.) and the blackberry, (Rabu,s y/Z^o.s!(s, Ait.), have been 
seen. At Jordan, in the valley of the Minnesota, the black raspberry was noted, 
{Rubus occidentalis, L.) The white pine grows near Minneapolis, {Pinus strobus, 
L.), and in Mower county ; it is found along the rocky banks of the streams in 
Mower county. The black ash, (Fraxinus sambucifolia, Lam.), has, also, been ob- 
served in the Big Woods ; but, it seems not to be common. Tlie red-berried elder, 
[Sarnbucus pubens, Michx.), huH been seen at Minneapolis ; also, the sweet vibur- 
num, ( Viburnum Lentago, L.), and the strawberry bush, [Euonymus Americanus, L.) 
Two species of spiroea, the ninebark, (Spiraea opulifolia, L.) and the common 
meadow-sweet spiraea salicifolia, L., were noted at St. Peter. 

Although, according to the foregoing boundary of the southern end of the Big 
Woods, they extend, en masse, only to about the center of Blue Earth county, the 



FOREST TREE PLANTEIls' MANUAL. 17 

area of continuous timber is extended considerably further south, through the 
agency of the valleys of the Blue Earth, the Cobb, and the Maple rivers,— tribu- 
taries of the Minnesota, that run northward fruui the water-shed, that lies along 
the southern State boundary line. Consequently, there is more than the usual 
amount of timber, for prairie lands, in Faribault and Freeborn counties. In 
those counties, as the suppression of the prairie fires is rendered more complete, 
by the forming of the soil, the scattering shrubs of oak, and the aspens, that are 
avant couriers of encroaching forests, bring on more and more the character and 
aspect of a wooded country. Other species then gradually venture out from the 
sheltered valleys, and flourish on the open tracts. It is in some of these more 
southerly spurs from the main body of the Big Woods, that the shag-bark hickory 
[Gary a alba., Nut.) sometimes appears. 

The existence of this great spur of timber, shooting so far south from the boun- 
dary line, separating the southern prairies from the northern forests, and its suc- 
cessful resistance against the fires that formerly must have raged annually on 
both sides, is a phenomenon in the natural history of the State that challenges 
the scrutiny of all observers. While it holds mines of wealth, open to the prac- 
tical economist, it afibrds to the scientist a rich field for observation and study. 
With timber, comes the fauna, that is peculiar, in our latitude, to timbered 
regions. This fauna, is strikingly diff'erent from that of the prairies. The bear, 
the wolf, the deer, a great number of forest warblers, and numberless winged in- 
sects, that would otherwise be restricted to the northern half of Minnesota, are, 
by this spur of timber, brought into a much more southern latitude. The deer, 
at present, roams over the whole of this tract, from north to south. It furnishes 
shelter for thousands of birds that v/inter among us, but which, otherwise, would 
become exterminated, or driven from the State. It has, also, its climatic efi'ect, 
and its sanitary influence. It is eminently a region of small lakes. What may 
be the cause underlying, that has wrought this wonderful diversity in the heart 
of our great State, is a subject for legitimate investigation, but the limits of this 
paper do not permit me to enter on that. It is only possible here to give a few 
notes, and to call attention to some of the salient points. That this tract is des- 
tined to be one of untold benefit to the State, cannot be questioned. It is as yet 
but sparsely inhabited, and the details of its natural history are unknown. 

The following have been noticed by Mr. L. M. Ford : Two varieties of the 
wild gooseberry, {Clematis Virginiana,) a well known climber, blooming in August; 
the Dutchman's pipe, {Arestolochia sypho,) another climber ; one variety of the 
honeysuckle, {Lonicera ;) the leather wood, (Dirca palustris,) a dwarf sort of thorn, 
heavily laden with fruit in autumn, probably Qrataegus coccinea, and near Minne- 
apolis, the trailing juniper, {Juniperus prostrata.) 

The first report of the commissioner of statistics, of Minnesota, 
(1860), gives the following account of the natural distrihution of its 
timber. 

" The Great Coniferous District. — The elevated and broken region, north of lati- 
tude 46°, and east of the meridian of the outlet of Red Lake, may be described in 
general terms, as a forest country; these lines, in general, being the southern and 
western limits of the pine, and other coniferse, in Minnesota, and including an 
area of 21,000 square smiles. Pine is the prevailing wood of this district, but in- 
termingled with a considerable proportion of birch, maple, aspen, ash and elm. 
The alluvial bottoms of the extreme northern branches of the Mississippi, support 
a heavy growth of basswood, elm, aspen, butternut, ash, birch, hard and soft 
maples, linden, balsam-fir, and some oaks. It is observed, that whenever the 
cone-bearing woods are burned off in this district, the hard woods take their 
place. The sugar-maple, which, according to Blodgett, marks the range of Indian 
corn, extends northward nearly to Rainy Lake, where it yields abundance of 
sugar to the Indians. In the Red River Valley, the sugar-maple is found all 
along its trough, and finds its northern limit beyond the 49th parallel, on the 
elevated southern water-shed of Lake Winnipeg. On the rivers flowing into Lake 
Superior, hemlock, cedar, spruce, fir, and birch prevail 

The Zone of Pine. — The principal pine forests of Minnesota, which constitute 
one of main resources of industry and wealth, stretch in a broad belt near the 
southern border of the great northern forest district, from the eastern side of 
Pine county, in the Upper Saint Croix Valley, northwestward across the water- 
shed to the outlet of Red Lake. The principal pineries where lumber is bought, 
are upon the headwaters of Kettle, Snake, Rum, Crow- Wing, and the Upper Mis- 

2 



18 FOREST TREE PLANTERS^ MANUAL. 

sississippi, and recently, upon the extreme upper waters of, the Red, Or Otter Tail 
river. 

Belt of Oak Openings.— 'Below latitude 46°, the pine, hemlock, spruce, birch, and 
all the Coniferce, generally disappear with the forest-line. A narrow range of 
cedar and tamarack swamps, between Saint Croix and Crow Wing rivers, and. 
some pine, mingled with large maple, oak, ash, and small birch and spruce, inter- 
vene for half a degree further, when the oak becomes the prevailing tree on the 
uplands, distributed in groves and large parks, its growth usually dwarfed by the 
annual ravages of prairie fires. These oak openings characterize the whole delta 
of rolling prairie, below latitude 45° on the east side of the Mississippi. The soft . 
m.aple, elm, ash, willow, and alder, line the bottoms of the Rum and Elk rivers. , 
There are no compact forests in this section, except upon the Saint Croix Valley, 
where a dense mass of hard- woods, in which the sugar-maple prevails, occupies 
the upper part of Washington and Chisago counties to the pine belt, in Pine 
county. 

The Bois Franc, or Big l^'oods.— West of the Mississippi, the western flank of 
the great coniferous forest of the north, extending with a thick border of .hard- 
wood west of Otter Tail River, and around Otter Tail Lake, terminates upon the 
valley ot the Crow Wing, where it merges its characteristics in a new forest 
growth of the deciduous forms, which stretches in a broad angular belt across the 
great prairies of the southeast and south, and generally known as the Big Woods. 
This belt wood forms a deep fringe, of from ten to twenty miles in width, along 
the western slope of the Mississippi, from the Crow Wing Valley to the Sauk, at 
Saint Cloud. Crossing into the valley of the Crow River, and keejiing a general 
south-easterly course, it occupies a large strip of country between the Mississippi 
and Minnesota rivers, nearly one hundred miles on its longest side, with an aver- 
age breadth of forty miles ; its western limit being formed by a line crossing the 
counties of McLeod and Meeker, diagonally through the middle, and its .eastern, 
by a line drawn from near the mouth of Rum river to Carver, on the Minnesota. 
Throwing its left flank across the Minnesota^ at Louisville, its main body crosses 
the river between Belle. Plain and Le Sueur, and covers nearly the whole of Le 
Sueur county, with its right wing extending south-westward to Blue Earth River; 
in Blue Earth county, and its left occupying about one-half of Rice and Scott 
counties. The area of tlie tract of country covered by the Big Woods, is about 
5,000 square smiles, of which 4,000 is occupied by the division north of the Min- 
nesota, and 1,000 by its southern division. The woodland district is full of lakes,, 
and, in some sections, the dense mass of forest is broken by small prairies. The- 
varieties of timber in this district are mainly oak, maple, elm, ash, basswood,! 
black walnut, and hickory. 

Southern Belt of Valley Woods and Oak Openings. — Besides the tract above de- 
scribed, there are no large forests in Minnesota, west of the Mississijjpi. But, 
nearly all the streams have narrow fringes of woodlands, and some of the valleys 
east are dense masses of timber. The wide bottoms of Minnesota and Mississippi 
have a deep border of thick and massive woods, in which the large cotton wood 
and maple are conspicuous, with white and black walnut, butternut, linden, box- 
wood and hickory. The Zumbro Valley,. Wabashaw and Dodge counties, sup- 
port some large tracts of forest growth. The Root Biver also affords a consider- 
able body of thick woods on the borders of Fillmore and Olmstead counties, in 
which all the varieties of the Big Woods are reproduced. But the oak-openings 
and groves which are scattered through the uplands along the streams form a 
large resource of the prairie population for domestic and mechanical purposes. 

The Sparcely Wooded Distnct. — The Upper Valley of the Minnesota and Red 
River sustains no forest-growth, except upon the trough of the main and tributary 
streams and the margins of the lakes. The minor streams of the Upper Missis- 
sippi, are, however, poorly timbered, a few scattering trees only marking their 
course over the naked plain. 

On the Red River, a narrow fringe of thick woods of the hard varieties, com- 
mences at Graham's Point, and continues to Pembina, while all the streams on 
the east and west sides afford narrow^ strips of timber, generally from flfteeen to 
twenty-five miles apart, while the intermediate plains above latitude 46°, are 
dotted with clinnps of poplars, willows, and other aspenoids. 

The foregoing extracts seem to be necessary and valuable in this con- 
nection, in order to exhibit at a glance the natural home of the different 
forest trees of Minnesota. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS* MANUAL. 19 

I give it, simply as my own experience in forest-growing on the 
prairies ; that it pays, to conform to the natarai tiabits ol the trees ; that 
is, I would plant the Black Walnut, ButiL-^aut, Black Ash, Basswood, 
Elm, (fee, in a deep, moist, rich, soil, instead, ui on high, dry, poorish 
soil. And I would plant the Pines, White Ash, Larch, &c,, on lighter, 
dryer soils. I would carry this idea into practice in the planting of a 
tree claim ; giving each particular variety, as near as possible, the same 
sort of soil, location, (fee, as where the finest growths are found in the 
native forests. 

We will now give some attention to the individual character of forest 
trees, from Dr. Hough's report, pp. 556 to 566. I find much valuable 
information, which he credits to tiie Iowa State Horticultural Society. 

This society, in 1872, began to offer premiums to encourage tree-plant- 
ing, and it has for the past four years, printed annually, for gratuitous 
distribution am(^)ng- planters, a pampniet,i containing instructions for 
procuring, storing, and planting oi seeds, cuttings and plants, with hints 
on best species and varieties, modes of culture, (fee, for artificial forests 
and shelter-belts in that State. 

The importance of this subject has been also frequently discussed for 
many years, as well in the public journals, as by speakers at agricultural 
and horticultural fairs, so that it may be truly said of Iowa, that no 
State in the Union has so generally been awakened to the importance of 
tree-planting. In fact, tlie great prairies needed no argument to prove 
the desirability of planting, as well for fences and fuel, as for shelter and 
ornament. The statistical result of these labors will be found on another 
page in this volume. Some of the practical suggestions of the Annual, 
which appear to be of more general interest, are fiere given : 

SHELTER-BELTS. 

These are wind-breaks for the shelter of domestic animals and crops, 
and their advantages are set forth by Judge C E. Whiting, one of tJie 
committee charged with the preparation of the Annual, from his own 
experience, (^perhaps the most extensive of any person in the country in 
this branch of forestry,) as follows : 

■■ I have, in belts around my fields, varying from single to twenty rows of trees, 
mostly planted 4,356 to the acre, about 40 acres of timber. The trees in these 
belts vary as to time of planting ; some are eighteen years old, and some only one 
year planted ; the greater portion, however, are from five to twelve years of age. 
The needed thinning of these belts furnishes all tJie wood that is wanted on tJie 
farm, including stakes and rails to keep the fences in repafr, posts for all repairs 
needed, and many for new fences, I annually build in extenchng my farm. When 
my walnuts get a little larger, I will have all I need, and many for sale. There is 
not a stick of needed timber on the farm, from a pea- brush, a grapevine-stake, or 
a binding-pole, up to a fair-sized saw-log, that cannot be had from my groves, 
without cutting a single tree that does not need thinning out from the groves. 

" About five miles of my timber belts are so planted, that I have commenced 
using tne standing trees for fence-posts. Where a tight fence is not needed, with 
the use of the barbed wire, and a little change in tne staple, the use of these live 
posts is a perfect success. Strongly and urgently as I have heretofore advocated 
the planting of thick belts of timber around our fields, each year but confirms me 
in the opinions then expressed. The land that remains, will, year aftei- year, 
produce larger and more certain crops than the whole field would produce with- 
out such protection. I also repeat, that, in spite of all the learned discussions and 
scientific theorizing in regard to the cause of our timberless prafries, our cultivated 
forest trees, year after year, grow right along, with immense rapidity, in blissful 
ignorance of all the reasons why they should not grow." 

I Foresty Annual of the Iowa Horticultural Society. Four numbers of this have been published, be- 
gianing in 1874. The pamphlet for 1877, embraces 24 pages. 



^0 J'OiREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

The species of trees used in shelter-belts, either on the farm boundaries to the 
north and west ; or, to the north and west of dwelling, barns, orchard, garden, 
&c., will depend greatly on the position of the homestead, as to soil and location 
in the State. The settler, absolutely without tree-shelter, wishes, naturally, to 
reach results as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the willow, the cottonwood, the 
silver poplar, and the box-elder, are all veiy easy to propagate ; as noted in speak- 
ing of varieties, are all wonderfully rapid in growth under good cultivation ; and, 
above all, are perfectly hardy, even in the north-western part of the State. Taking 
all things into consideration, it is best to put these rampant growers on the out- 
side of belts, adding from year to year the varieties, like elm, ash, black cherry, 
honey-locust, the evergreens, &c., as time and means permit, inside of the iron- 
clad vanguards placed on the outside. The rapid-growing soft woods, starting 
readily from cuttings, are the most available for urgent present needs, and the 
novice in tree-planting, is more certain of success with them in his first efforts, 
than with rooted plants of the slower-growing, but more valuable timbers. Be- 
sides, cuttings cost nothing usually, and are readily obtainable. We apiDend notes 
on managing cuttings in this connection, as these trees are most frequently used 
in shelter-belt plantations. 

How to Prepare Cuttings. — Very early in winter, before severe freezing, cut in 
lengths of about a foot. If the limbs to cut are plenty, choose them from three- 
fourths to one and a half inches in diameter. Cut them at the lower end with a 
clean cut, sloping at acute angle, to facilitate pressing in the earth when planting. 
If sharpened on all sides, as is frequently done, roots are emitted less freely from 
the lower end. Tie in bundles with willows, with the lower ends nicely evened, 
so that when placed on the ground in the spring, every cutting will touch the 
moist earth. Pack the cuttings in a dry-goods box, with moist prairie soil, putting 
the box where it will not get too dry or wet, and will not freeze. With the first 
warm weather of spring, clean off" a spot under an old straw-stack, level the sur- 
face carefully, and set the bundles butt-end down closely together upon the fresh, 
moist earth ; then cover them over with straw, so as to keep them from the air. 
By the time the ground gets warm enough to plant, the base of the cuttings will 
be softened and calloused, and most of them will have emitted small roots. 

Mark out your ground one way three feet apart. Plant alternately a row of 
small-growing corn with a row of cuttings. Put the cuttings in rows six inches 
apart, at an angle of forty-five degrees, using a clean, narrow spade, and press 
the earth down firmly with the foot. Cuttings should be put down about the 
whole length. When they start, allow only one sprout to grow. Cultivate care- 
fully. The alternate row of corn will nearly pay for the culture, and the follow- 
ing winter, the stalks will help to hold the snow among the trees. The following 
spring it can be seen how the plants stand in the rows. If the cuttings are pre- 
pared, kept, and set right, nearly all will grow, and the surplus plants can be 
taken up and set in other ground. Allow the plants to stand about three feet 
apart. If many have failed, transplant, so they will set right. As a rule, it is 
not best to transplant. A tree six years old, and never transplanted, is usually, 
much the largest. 

We may here remark, that in addition to the willows, the white and yellow 
cottonwood, lombardy poplar, large aspen, silver poplar and balm of Gilead, may 
all be propagated in this way, as noted in speaking of varieties. The instructions 
for managing cuttings, will, however, not be repeated. 

We may here, also, note that the red maple, white maple, ash-leaved maple 
and basswood, may be propagated readily from two-year-old wood, put out in the 
fall. Cover lightly over the rows, before cold weather, with straw or prairie hay. 
Rake this off as the plants start in spring. 

Evergreens for Shelter-belts. — In eastern Iowa, nearly all of the hardy evergreens 
may be grown successfully, and form, beyond all doubt, the most perfect shelter- 
belts that can be planted. But, in the central and western portions of the State, 
north of the forty-second parallel, evergreens, even of the hardiest type, need 
shelter ; yet, this is no reason why they should be ignored in the perfecting of 
shelter-belts. For reasons before noted, the rapid-growing soft woods are best 
for outside planting, and are just what is needed to give requisite exemption 
from wind-sweep to belts of pines, or spruces planted under their lee. 

For the portions of the State most in need of shelter-belts, the Scotch pine is, 
beyond all doubt, the best evergreen for this use in the whole list. We can fully 
indorse the statement of Prof C. S. Sargent, who says : 

" The rapidity of its growth in all situations, and its economic value, make the 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 21 

Scotch pine the most valuable tree farmers can plant for screens and wind-breaks 
about their fields and buildings, and for this purpose, it is recommended in place 
of the more generally planted Norway spruce, which, though of rapid growth in 
its young state, does not promise, in our climate, at least, to fulfill the hopes which 
were formed in regard to it." 

This pine is specially partial to free circulation of air, growing quite feebly in 
crowded positions ; hence, it will not do to plant it as closely as white pine, 
although, as with other trees, it is best to plant, with a view of thinning out when 
the poles are of size to be of practical use. We may here remark, that the poles 
of Scotch and white pine, cut in summer and stripped of bark, are very strong 
and durable, when nailed on posts for fencing. 

The white pine will succeed vastly better with outside shelter on the west and 
north exposures, and will attain height fully as fast as the Scotch pine. Plant in 
rows eight feet apart, with plants four feet apart. The trees thus crowded will 
attain height rapidly, and when the poles attain size for nailing on fence-posts, 
they will be straight, and nearly uniform in size from end to end. 

The Norway or white spruce, coming next, may be planted the same as Scotch 
pine. The white spruce is, perhaps, the most compact and beautiful, but the 
Norway, is the most rapid in growth, and is the most plentiful m the nurseries. 

Evergreens, twelve to eighteen inches, of all the sorts here named, may be 
obtained of leading nurserymen, who make seedlings a specialty, at very low 
rates. Taking into account the first cost of plant, the loss from shipping, dying 
out, &c., the chances for success, with the ordinarj- farmer, are too doubtful, except 
on a small scale, for the shelter of horne buildings, where the addition to the 
landscape view, summer and winter, will well repay the cost of purchase, and 
after care, saying nothing of their perfect effectiveness in arresting wind and 
storm. The deciduous trees, such as we specif)^ as valuable for farm uses, are 
good enough for shelter-belts, and the annual thinnings are far more valuable for 
varied uses. Our main idea, under the heading of shelter-belts, is to recommend 
strongly the planting of all forest trees as shelter-belts, rather than in the form of 
isolated squares, as is too common. Plant any of the kinds named in the suc- 
ceeding list, but plant in the order suggested, as many trees do famously well, 
planted east or south of a heavy belt of hardier trees, which would utterly fail in 
open exposure to wind-sweeps. 

PLANTATIONS FOR FUEL, FARM USES, AND MANUFACTURING PUR- 
POSES. 

To economize space, we place the varieties of trees best suited for these varied 
purposes under one heading, making comments as to relative value for specific 
purposes and management of each timber tree separately. 

Green Ash {Fraxinus viridis.) — For fuel, and for all the manifold uses for which 
light, firm, elastic, and durable timber is wanted, as well as handsome, light-col- 
ored finishing lumber, the white and green ash are our most valuable trees, and 
their greatest value is attained when grown on deep, rich soil. The white ash, 
{F. Americana), in our dry atmosphere, and sometimes very dry soil, makes com- 
paratively slow growth, while green ash, on soils favorable for our best corn crops, 
will, in ten years, be as large as the ash-leaved maple {Negundo aceroides) of same 
age. For all uses, its timber is very similar to white ash, with which it is con- 
founded by most of our citizens. It grows in many parts of Iowa, while the 
white ash is not common. The seeds ripen in October, and soon fall after frost. 
A good way to keep them, is to place them on the surface of a garden walk, put- 
ting a box over them, and cutting a trench around the box to keep water from 
running under them. They will not grow if kept too dry. AVith most people, it 
will be best to purchase the plants of nurserymen, or to cultivate the first year in 
a seed-bed. Usually, about one-fifth of the seed grows. Transplant where they 
are to grow at one year old. It is, however, better for the trees to plant the seed 
where the trees are to grow", say six or eight seeds in a hill. They will then 
retain their tap-root and grow with more vigor, but will require more hoeing. 

How to Plant. — After deep plowing and thorough borrowing, mark the ground, 
as for corn. If seeds are planted, cover shallow, not more than an inch. If 
transplanting, press a clean, bright spade about two-thirds its length perpendic- 
ularly at each intersection of the marks, then draw the handle back, so as to 
move the bottom of the spade three or four inches forward, then press in the 
spade the balance of its length, and push the handle forward, which will leave 



22 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

an ample hole to receive the roots ; after the spade is withdrawn, tramp the 
ground firmly on the roots, and leave the plant standing perpendicular. 

HoNEY-LocusT ( Oleditschia triacanthos) . — It is thought by many to be the best to 
select the seed for timber-growing purposes from thornless trees ; yet, it often 
happens that nearly all the plants from seeds gathered from very thorny trees, 
will prove thornless, if kept thriftily growing. On account of rapidity of growth 
and value of timber for fuel, posts, furniture, &c., we regard this native tree as 
being very valuable. In some of the interior counties remote from the river bot- 
toms, where this tree is found native, the idea seems common that this tree, like 
the common black locust, is subject to attacks of the borer, and is, also, liable to 
sprout, &e. For the benefit of this quite numerous class, it may be well to state, 
that honey locust — or, more properly, three-tborned acacia — iN nearly allied to the 
Kentucky cofiee-tree botanically, and that the borer has not been known to attack 
it ; nor does it sprout to greater extent than the maple, and most other forest trees. 

The seed ripens in autumn, and may be gathered any time durins the fall or 
winter. But the sooner pods are gathered after falling to the ground the better. 
In Cedar county, on Cedar river, and at manv points on the Iowa. Des Moines, 
Missouri, and in*' '^ed, most of the rivers of the State, pods may be gathered in 
quantity grown o^ thornless trees. 

Before planting, scald the seeds severely. Part of them will swell. Sift these 
out with a coarse fanning-mill sieve. Scald the remainder again ; repeatedly 
scalding and sifting, until all are swelled. The ground should be ready, and the 
seeds at once planted. They will come up in two or three days, if the weather be 
favorable, and their upright growth is so rapid, that less care i« needed in picking 
out weeds from among the plants, than with any other forest-tree seedlings. Keep 
the weeds down carefully with good culture during the summer. Take up the 
plants in the fall and heel in carefully where water will not stand. If left stand- 
ing in seed-bed, the plants are often injured during the winter. After the first 
year, the plants are perfectly hardy, if seed from oxn- native trees be used. We 
may here note, that the seed sold in the eastern markets is mostly imported. The 
plants produced from the foreign honey-locn«t seed prove as tender in our climate 
as the peach tree. No valuable tree in our li ^t bears transplanting with as little 
check to growth, as the honey-locust. Put out the plants with a spade, as recom- 
mended for the ash. 

Black Cheery (Cerasna serotina). — The great value of this tree for posts, fuel, 
manufacturing, &c., has been too much overlooked. Plantations in this State, and 
in Illinois, demonstrate it to be one of our most desirable trees for cultivation, at- 
taining a size in 12 years about equal to scarlet maple, with same care. When 
planted thickly, say in rows 4 feet apart and 18 inches apart in row, the poles run 
up tall and straight. The trees taken out in thinninsr can be utilized for poles to 
nail on posts for fence. Cut in summer, when they will dry quickly, thej^ will last 
many years. When used for posts, if thoroughly dried, the writer has found 
them to last as long as the best burr-oak. He has posts yet sound that have been 
set 15 years, and made from trees only 10 to 12 inches in diameter. The seed may 
be gathered in most of our groves and thickets. Wash off the pulp, dry the sur- 
face of the pits in the sun, then pack in pure sand, in small boxes or nail kegs. 
If kept in cellar, where they will not get too dry, they will grow ; or they may be 
buried where they may be severely frozen. In the latter case, they will be found 
to germinate very early in spring, and must be sown before much started. Plant 
and manage same as ash. If planted where wanted, all the better, as transplant- 
ing sadly retards growth. 

European Larch (Larix Europsea). — In Europe, this is regarded as their most val- 
uable forest tree for artificial groves. It is especially grown for railroad ties, posts, 
vine stakes, fencing, fuel, and about all the economic uses of the farm, and even 
in the shipyard; whole ships having been constructed of larch timber. It is, in 
our country, one of the most rapid growers we have, under proper treatment. 
But we may suggest that a careless manager had better select some oth«r tree. 
The indications are that it will not prove as desirable here as in Europe, perhaps 
mainly on account of too rapid growth on rich soils. On their clay soils it pro- 
duces a better grade of timber. 

Purchase plants that have been once transplanted. Be sure to secure the 
plants very early in the soring. The leaves start very early, and the plants should 
be in the ground before this occurs. If mu 'h started, they can hardly be saved 
in the open air, unless the weather be very f ivorable. Remember that it will not 
bear exposure of root, any more than the evergreens. In planting keep the roots 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANIJAL. 23 

in mud and water, under no cir(iumstant;es allowing them to get even partially- 
dry. Plant the same as ash and honey-locust. 

For the first year or two after transplanting, they will be found to make very 
moderate growth. After that they climb up rapidly. The ash and locust will 
need thorough culture but two years. The larch will not shade the ground as 
early, and will need four years of careful culture. We will add, if plants of two 
year.s' growth be purchased, that have not been transplanted from the seed-bed, 
do not think of setting in the open field. Plant quite closely in bed, and give 
partial shade for one or two years. It pays to grow larch, but the idea must be 
kept constantly in mind that when young it is very delicate and tender under our 
dry air and hot sun, and must be handled in all respects like young evergreens, 
with the additional care that it must be transplanted very early in spring. 

Black and White Walnut (Juglans nigra and /. cinerea). — These are well- 
known and valuable trees, especially the black walnut. They do not transplant 
without great check of growth, and the nuts, therefore, should be planted where 
wanted for belt or grove. 

Judge C. E. Whiting, of this committee, who has had more experience ingrow- 
ing this timber than any man, probably, in the West, reports as follows: 

"If I were to plant a section of timber for an investment for my children, I 
would have it all black walnut — a tree will grow to sawing size sooner than pine, 
and even now in our markets it is quoted at three times the price of pine. It is 
very durable, if put in the ground dry, for posts. Fifteen years ago I planted 
cedar and walnut posts at the same time, and also posts of white oak. All are 
now decayed about equally. Always plant the walnut where you want it. Will 
transplant well, but loses, in losing its tap-root, years of growth. Seven bushels 
of walnuts, with the shucks on, will plant an acre. During the winter I put in 
trenches, not too thick, and cover with leaves." 

Plant before sprouting if possible. Mark the ground out as for ash, and plant 
the nuts early and deep so that they will not dry. 

Yellow Cottonwood (Populus monilifera). — The opinion is common in central 
and eastern Iowa, that cottonwood is only valuable on the prairies for wind- 
breaks, as the wood has little value for fuel or for any uses of the farm or work- 
shop. The variety, if it be merely a variety, abundant on the Missouri, and also 
found sparingly on the DesMoines, Iowa, Cedar, &c., in central and eastern Iowa, 
known as yellow cottonwood, really has an economic value, aside from its value 
for shelter belts, that should be better understood by our prairie settlers. Bryant 
says of this variety : " Its heart-wood is of a yellowish color, not unlike that of the 
tulip tree. It grows in the same situation as others of its kind, and is split with- 
out difficultjf into rails. Shingles have been manufactured from it, which lasted a 
considerable time. When sawed into lumber it does not warp like the cotton- 
wood generally. If Populus angulata and P. monilifera are really distinct_, it is a 
matter of uncertainty to which this variety belongs. The subject should be in- 
vestigated." Judge" C. E. Whiting has grown 'this tree extensively for a number 
of years on the Missouri bottom in Monona county, and has expressed his views 
as follows: 

• "We have in the Missouri bottom both the white and yellow cottonwood. In 
■speaking of the cottonwood as a valuable timber, I speak alone of the yellow. I 
have fence-boards of this yellow cottonwood upon my farm that have been in use 
fifteen years, and they are yet good. My house is sided with cottonwood ; has 
been built ten years, and looks as well as any pine siding in the country, and stays 
to its place as well. It is really better as fencing than pine, being tougher and 
stronger. It stays to its place as well, and is equally durable. I need hardly say 
it has no rival in rapidity of growth, as it far outstrips the willoM\ Along the 
bars of the Missouri are millions of i-eedlings. They grow up upon these bottoms 
over a great extent like prairie grass. There are enough of them to plant groves 
over every prairie in the State. I went ten miles from home, and in one day took 
up 13,000 eighteen to thirty inches in height for my own setting. With trround 
ready a good hand can set from 2,000 to 3,000 per day. The fall is the best time 
to get seedlings from the Missouri bottom, on account of the high water in the 
spring. I set cottonwood posts from old trees in the bottom in the spring of 1860. 
I moved this fence last fall, and nine-tenths of them are yet good. The yellow 
cottonwood, split up green and put under a dry shed to dry, is good enough for 
my folks to use for fuel. 

" Of my first planting of cottonwood twelve years ago, the best of them now 
measure sixteen inches in diameter. We would make plantations very thick. I 



24 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

now plant 4,356 trees to the acre. This shoves them up straight and symmetrical. 
In this way we get the dead-sure thing on the side-branch business. Cottonwood 
can be readily grown from seeds. Being upon the river bottom in June, I loticed 
the Cottonwood trees were loaded with seed ; had one cut down and loaded the 
wagon with branches with the seed attached. I furrowed some ground quite 
deeply with plow ; strewed the limbs in the rows, and my success in growing 
many thousands of seedlings was most perfect." 

In the interior sections, where seedlings cannot readily be obtained from the 
river bottoms,the yellow Cottonwood may be grown from cuttings about as readily 
as the willow. The evident advantage would also ensue of propagating the right 
variety. On the Missouri bottom the seedlings of the common cottonwood are, 
of course, intermixed with the more valuable variety. 

Catapalta (Catapalta bignonoides.) — Experience has demonstrated this tree to 
have a special value for extended planting. Although naturally a tree indigenous 
farther south, it seems to have a peculiar tendency to adapt itself to northern 
limits. A variety now grown quite extensively in central Iowa seems as hardy as 
any of our native trees. The writer has trees now five years set, large enough for 
small posts for wire_fences, which have had open exposure north of 42d parallel 
during the past severe winters. In Cedar county are to be seen many trees, which 
have been out from ten to fifteen years, which show its habit of rapid growth to 
continue after it attains consideralDle size. In its native forests it attains consider- 
able size, growing from 50 to 80 feet in height, with a diameter of from 18 to 25 
inches. Its flowers are very showy, and its odd cylindrical pods attract much 
attention. It is very durable for posts. Posts are yet sound in Illinois which 
have been set, it is claimed, forty years. The plants are very easy to grow from 
seeds, which may be kept dry until time for sowing. But in all cases secure seed 
grown on northern trees. In Cedar county, and near Muscatine, the seeds are 
quite abundant. The trees flower and bear seeds abundantly when quite young. 

White and Scotch Pines {Pinus .^trobus and P. Sylvestris.) — These have been 
referred to in this report as very desirable for shelter belts. Our people have 
been slow to plant them for timber trees as their most evident use as such is for 
sawed lumber. Admitting this as their special use, several considerations should 
induce their extended planting: 

First — Their rapidity of growth. Very many reported cases of growth on the 
prairies of white pine, in partially sheltered localities, confirm the statements of 
relative growths made by D. C. Scofield, of Elgin, 111. His plants were set when 
from 6 to 12 inches in height, and after twelve years' growth he reports European 
larch 30 feet high and 8 to 12 inches in diameter ; and white pine S5 feet in height 
and 6 to 12 inches through. The writer has white pine trees, twelve to thirteen 
years planted, 14 inches in diameter and over 30 feet in height. 

Second — The poles thinned out as before stated are valuable for fencing. 

Third — An evergreen plantation breaks up the monotony of prairie scenery, and 
adds in this way a moneyed value to our real estate in case it is ofifered for sale. 

Plants of white pine can be bought from dealers, who collect them in the pin- 
eries, as low as two to three dollars per thousand, in quantity. Such plants should 
be set in beds for two years, and screened by light brush-covered shed. They 
may then be set where wanted. Pine and larch may be grown advantageously 
intermingled in the same plantation. As before noted, the Scotch pine may be 
judiciously planted as a protection to white pine or larch plantations on west or 
north sides. Evergreen plants can be procured of parties in Illinois, who grow 
them from seed and send them out once transplanted at low rates. Robert Dou- 
glas, of "Waukegan, 111., whose long experience in prairie-tree growing gives a 
practical value to his opinions, advises the extended planting of white and Scotch 
pines intermixed with the larch. He says : 

"Most European planters prefer mixing pines with larches, as this adds to the 
appearance of the plantation and gives a choice in thinning. We would advise 
planting a few rows of the admixture on the margin of the plantation, at least, 
and in all cases where the plantations are placed along the outer boundaries of 
the farm, we would advise a free admixture of evergreen." 

As evergreen plants are usually shipped from a distance, the instructions of Mr. 
Douglas in regard to handling and setting are appended: 

"When the trees are received from nurseries, the boxes should be immediately 
unpacked, and the roots dipped in a puddle made of rich mellow soil, about the 
thickness" of paint. Place them in a cool shaded place till ready to plant, and 
while planting expose the roots as little as possible. If not ready to plant for a 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 25 

few days, keep the roots moist and tops dry. Set the trees a little deeper than they 
stood in the nursery, and tread the earth firmly about the roots when planting— 
this is very essential— drawing a little loose earth up to the trees to prevent the sur- 
face from baking. " 

Red Elm* ( Ulmvs fulva). — This tree has not received the attention it merits 
from tree planters on our prairies. It is peculiarly a tree adapted to dry climates, 
no better proof of which could be found than the fact that it fails to ripen seeds 
in the humid air of England and France. Its special claims to attention for ex- 
tended planting may be briefly summed up as follows: 

(1) It is beyond all question hardy, even in the most exposed position on our 
prairies. 

(2) It grows on rich soils with great rapidity. The writer has trees grown from 
seed in six years larger than box-elder (Negrundo aceroides) of the same age, and 
receiving the same treatment. 

(3) The seeds are easy to gather in nearly every portion of the State, and require 
no more skill in handling and planting than of the soft maple. 

(4) No tree in our whole list seems so free from disease and injury from insects, 
worms, &c. 

(5) No tree, not even the larch, has so large a proportion of red or heart-wood 
when young. Even in the branches of young trees only one or two inches in 
diameter the perfect wood forms the principal part. 

(6) Grown thickly in artificial groves, it runs up straight and tall, and when the 
poles are large enough to split for two rails thev divide as freely and easily as 
young chestnuts, and the rails are about as durable, even when laid up in worm- 
fence. Nailed on to posts they will last fulh'' as long as white oak. 

(7) When the poles are only large enough for a grape-vine stake, or a small post 
for wire fence, if cut in summer, peeled, and dried before setting, they will last 
longer than burr-oak, set green, from old trees. 

(8) It is a historical tree of our country, and associated with every memory of 
the early days, without regard to position, as it seems the one ubiquitous tree, 
nearly everywhere present in the native forests of our country. It is among the 
first in the spring to exhibit its blossoms and hue of cheery' green, and in the 
autumn, with the advent of the earh' frosts, it presents a display of shaded leaves, 
running from lightest violet and the deepest crimson, to all sha(ies of orange and 
yellow. Other things being equal, even beauty has moneyed as well as aesthetic 
value in the arrangement of the landscape view in tree planting. 

This special commendation of the red elm may be received with some doubt by 
those who have given the matter little attention. The idea is not intended to be 
conveyed that exclusive plantations be made of any one tree. But example and 
habit have too much influence in guiding tree planting. ■ The soft maple, for in- 
instance, has become OA^er our State the popular tree for general planting. Let us 
suppose the red elm has become equally popular. It grows as rapidly, it is far 
hardier, it is freer from insect ravages, it is worth far more for fuel, it is excellent 
for rails and even posts, its lumber is valuable for stable-floors, bridge-plank, wag- 
on-hubs, and many other uses, the trees require little if any care in the way of 
pruning, &c. If it could supplant the maple the gain would soon be very apparent. 

The seeds of the elms ripen in May, usually before the trees come into full leaf 
The seeds are lieht, and being surrounded by a membranous wing, they are wide- 
ly scattered by the wind. Sow at once on gathering, and by all means sow where 
wanted, if possible. They may be planted in corn-hills to excellent advantage. 
They usually grow about one foot in hight the first season. Planting with corn is 
an advantage, as the plants are sometimes injured when very young by direct ex- 
posure to our dry air and hot sun of July and August. The plants transplant read- 
ily, but if you want rapid growth never break the first tap root. 

Corky Elm ( Ulmus racemosa. — This tree in habit of growth is much like the 
white elm [ Ulmus Americana] but its wood is far more valuable. This elm is so 
often confounded with the white elm, and is so usually mixed with it in its native 
haunts, that the masses might fail to get the unmixed seeds. The corky elm will 
be likely to grow as rapidly as the red elm, but its wood having less value for 
manifold uses than the latter, its extended culture cannot as yet be advised. For 
ornarnent and for shelter, however, we may say the white elm in all its northern 
variaties is not surpassed. Michaux was right when he said that the white elm 
was "the most magnificent vegetable of the temperate zone." Isolated trees for 
shade or landscape eflTect, or any of the white elm varieties, are not excelled. The 

♦Sometimes known as the Slippery Elm. 



26 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

American elms, as grown from seed, all run into varities puzzling to the botanist 

Silver-"'. EAF M-APTuTt: (Acer dasycarpum). — This variety, and also the red maple 
lAcer rubum}, are well known plantation trees in every neighborhood in the 
West. It is economy of time, and a great increase of growth is attained by plant- 
ing where wanted as recommended for the ash. But seedings may be transplant- 
ed readily if plants are readilj' obtainable. 

While it is unfortunate for the timber-growing interests of the State that the 
soft maples of late have been so exclusively planted, we are not willing to advise 
the total neglect of these trees. Failure often ensues by neglect to gather seeds at 
jtist the proper time. When the wild crab-apples are in full blossom the seed is 
usually just right. Before planting it is best to soak the seeds in water until just 
rea,dy to sprout. Then place in moist earth. 

Black Maple (Acer nigrum). — This is usually called sugar maple, biit its growth 
is very much more rapid under culture than the Acer saccharinum. For fuel 
and sugar-making it is specially worthy of culture. For five or six years after 
planting its growth is rather slow. After this it compares favorably with our oth- 
er valuable trees in this list. Seeds ripen in the fall. Pack in sand not too moist, 
or turn down on walk, and treat as ash seeds, which is generally best. Plant 
where wanted if possible, as growth is much impeded by transplanting. 

Ash-Leaved Maple [Negundo aceriodes)* — This tree is one of the easiest of all 
to propagate, and for great amount of fuel in a short time it has no superior. In 
Illinois it is being planted for sugar-making. Its wood in the older States, and in 
Europe, is used in cabinet-work. Gather s-eeds in fall ; keep under box as with 
ash, and sow where wanted. Under any kind of culture where a cottonwood will 
grow, this tree will flourish equally well or better. 

Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) . — Our native variety of hackberry grows very 
rapidly under culture, and has a special value for making flat hoops for apple and 
flour barrels. It splits very freely, and if cut in summer, and the bark peeled, the 
rails when nailed on posts last many years. For fuel it is about like soft maple. 
The fruit is about the size of peas, and is usually abundant on our river-bottoms. 
Wash the sweet pulp from the seeds and mix with sand for earh' spring sowing. 

Chestnut (Castanea vesca).- — In the south half of the ^tate, and on first-class fruit 
soils in the central district, this may be made a profitable tree for cultivation. Of 
all the trees known to the writer this is the most retarded in growth by trans- 
planting. Trees grown from the nuts where wanted will attain size for small posts 
while the transplanted ones are hardly large enough for lima-bean poles.- Good 
success has been attained by planting the nuts in Yankee corn-hills, giving the 
corn good care and keeping the hills free from weeds. After gathering the corn, 
before cold weather, break the stalks so as to make a partial shelter (.)verthe plants. 
The second year cultivate well until first of July, after which let weeds grow to 
shade the ground. The chestnut is specially injured when young, (and the same 
holds good with all forest -trees to greater (jr less extent), by excessive heating of 
soil under our August sun. After the third year the ground will be well shaded 
with the trees and they will make rapid growth, and will richly repaj^ for the 
trouble and care of management while young. The chestnuts to he used for seed 
miist not be allowed to become dry, or to mold or heat from l)eing too closely con- 
fined. They should be mixed with pure sand and ke])t through winter where 
they will be damp but not too wet. Seed grown north is every time preferable. 
Nuts grown in Benton Co'inty have produced seedings standing our climate lietter 
than those coming from the n'stor south. 

Red Mulberry (Morus rubra). — This is a very handsome ornamental tree, grow- 
ing very rapidly during the first years after planting, and soon attaining size suit- 
able for grape-vine or other stakes, and even for i)osts. The timber is strong, com- 
pact, and very durable. If dried before set in the soil, it is questionable whether 
we have any timber, doing well in rich soils, as durable for posts or stakes as this. 
A drawback to its culture is the scarcity of seed, the birds generally getting the 
fruit as fast as ripe. Wash the pulp from seed and mix with sand for early spring 
sowing, either in seed-bed or where wanted. Plant the nnil])erry where sheltered 
from the west and northwest by belts of trees like elm or cottonwood that will bet- 
ter stand the rake of our dry, <'>ld winds. It also does best 0,1 porous, deep soils, 
as long continous drought serioii.-ly injures and even kills the trees on soils with 
the blue clay too near the surface. 

Yellow Birch [Betulu excelsa). — This tree thrives exceedingly Avell on deep, 
rich, and moderately moist soils, with porous subsoil. It makes excellent fuel, 

*By some botanists called Acor negundo. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 27 

and is valuable for many manufacturing purposes where a strong, fine-grained, 
handsome wood is desirable. It is only recommended for variety. It grows 
readily when transplanted : and the lover of trees will always be pleased to have 
it in a general collection. The seedlings are not so easy to grow in our dry air as 
those of most forest-trees, and the seed, of which there is an abundance in the 
market, is usually not in a condition to grow. The plants may be bought in any 
quantity in the pinery regions at low rates. 

Laroe Aspen: (Ponnhi-i r/randidentata) . — I^nlike the common aspen, this tree 
rapidly attains, under cultivation, considerable si'<e. The wood has no great value 
for fuel ; yet. it has a snecial value for farm-uses that should not be overlooked. 

(1) It grows when planted, closely, very straight, and the poles — cut in summer 
and pealed — flattened on one side, make very strong and stiff rafters for sheds, 
and even barns. When large enough for hewing-sticks, it is fully equal to white 
pine for frames of barns. 

*(2) No timber in our list will attain, under good culture, size sufficient for two 
rails as soon, that is equally strong and durable, if cut in summer and neeled. In 
lengths of eieht or nine feet nailed on good ])osts, they keep in place better than 
oak. and will last fully fifteen years. 

All things considered, it is best to srrow this tree from cuttings ; yet, where seed 
can be procured, the plants grow with as much certainty as the cottonwood or 
maple. 

We may add, that a nlat of the aspen on the open px-airies is ever an object of 
interest in contrast with other trees. The leaves tremble in the lightest breeze 
when the foliage of other trees is motionless. ; , . 

White Pop[,.\r {Populvs nlhn.) — This tree is usually voted a nuisance as a shade 
on account of its wonderful tendency for suckering ; but this tendency to sucker, 
would be no objection in forest-culture. The size which this tree will reach in 
prairie in ten years, is a matter of wonder and surprise. It is probable that we 
have no tree with valuable wood that will reach saw-log size as soon as this. Like 
the elm, the intrinsic value of this tree hns been overlooked. Let us enumerate : 

(1) It nropagates from cuttings of any size, even more readily than-the willow. 

(2^ It is valuable for about the same uses as the famous tulip tree, ( Liriodondroa 
tuliplfera) of Ohio. It makes very superior flooring, wainscoting, and even finish- 
ing lumber for houses. The boards used for siding, or for fencing, are vastly 
superior to any of the poplar family, except it be the yellow cottonwood. For 
dry -goods boxc-^. Ixiwls, trays, carriage-bottoms, trunk-making, chair-seats, &c., the 
wood is counted in Eurone, superior to pine or white-wood. 

(3) When thickly planted, it runs up very straight, and the poles cut in thin- 
ning, can be utilized bv nailing on posts for fence, for rafters, sleepers, etc., as 
with the aspen. As with the latter, the trees for this use should be cut in summer 
and peeled, when they are quite durable if kept from the ground. 

Wir.D Rep Cuerry iCeras^n^ Penm^ylvanicit.) — This is a small-growing tree in its 
native haunts ; but, it behaves so well iinder cultivation, that it deserves a place 
in our timber plantations. It is peculiarly a northern tree, being foxmd on nearly 
all soils from the Atlantic coast to the headwaters of the Mackenzie River, in 
British America. It is very nearly allied to the common cultivated cherry, and 
exibits in its seedlings a marked capacity for variation and improvement. A 
variety is in common cultivation in the south part of Benton county, Iowa, which 
bears heavy annual crops of fruit, which is considered excellent for culinary use. 
The fruit is fully as large as that of the black wild-cherry, and of pleasant flavor. 
The wood of this tree is exceedingly hard, fine-grained, and of a reddish hue, and 
would be valuable for many uses in cabinet work, were it not for the natural 
small size of the tree. Grown thickly in artificial groA^es, its poles are straight 
and tall, and valuable for such farm-uses as nailing on posts, fence-stakes, vine- 
stakes, light fence-posts, &c. If dried before putting in the ground, it lasts as 
well for posts as black cherry. The pits kept in sand through winter grow as 
readily as those of black cherrv. It transplants readily, and sprouts can be 
secured in nearly all parts of the State for setting in groves. It will not pay to 
grow this timber, except for home-use on the farm. 

White Willow. (Scdix alba). — Perhaps, it may not be proper to include ther 
willow among the timber-trees proper, having a special value for farm-uses, or for 
manufacturing. Yet, Svhere grown thickly, the poles are straight, and uniform in 
size, and if cut in summer and bark peeled off, they last for several years nailed 
on posts for fence, and the fuel, if dried under cover, has a greater value for sum- 
mer use than is generally supposed. It is specially mentioned in this connection, 



28 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

on account of its combined adaptation for wind-breaks and fences on the bleak 
interior prairies. If any one doubts the expediency of growing the white willow 
on an extended scale, let him pay a visit to Story county, Iowa. Several years 
since. Col. John Scott, of that county, earnestly advocated the extended planting 
of this tree for fences, for fuel, and for the arresting of wind-sweeps on their bleak, 
broad prniries. In the portion of the county where its planting has been general, 
one can now hardlj' realize he is upon prairie in driving along the streets, lined 
on both sides for miles in extent, with combined fence and wind-screen. Where 
best known, the wonder is expressed by prairie-settlers, how they got along before 
its advent in their neighbood. Thomas Wardall, of Mitchell county, who has 
had a long prairie experience, writes of the white willow, as follows, in a report 
on hedges for the north : 

Seventh. — "We tried the white willow. This has come to us at the north as a 
" God-send." Not because it makes the best hedges, for no one is so foolish as to 
assume that, but because a stock-proof fence can be made of it, in brief time, and 
at ^mall expense, which at once is a fence and a wind-break. A combination of 
this kind the denizens of our northern prairies can appreciate. The variety 
mostly in use in our section, and in Minnesota, will not bear plashing, or even 
weaving, and will not lose the tree-habit of growth, by being headed back. So 
we have by mutual consent, abandoned all attempts at hedge-making proper, and 
we aim to secure a close bottom at once, then give protection from stock for two 
years, and we have a profitable investment in what will become a solid wall of 
live timber in a very few years ; at once a fence, a valuable screen from the 
sweeping winds of summer and winter, and which will give a constant supply of 
passable fire-wood from the tops. And now for the plan for forming such a stock- 
barrier, to which I will ask special attention. Let every northern farmer plant 
out a willow grove, with good, large cuttings in early spring. Plant four feet 
apart, both ways, and cultivate well for two or three years, and a large growth 
will be secured. When five years old, trim out all but one plant to each hill. Cut 
ofi" stakes five and one-half feet long from these trimmings. Sharpen these stakes 
and drive them eighteen inches deep in a well-prepared fence-row. When the 
soil is soft in the spring, the driving can be done without bruising the bark. Let 
the stakes be driven closely, not more than six inches apart. Nail a stay-lath 
near the top. A three-inch barn-batten answers the purpose well. Mulch heavily 
orcultivate well and often. In two years, a fence may be made that may be 
depended on to turn stock, but which will have the one fault of not being beau- 
tiful : 

The Iowa Horticultural Society fixed upon the 20th day of April, 
1874, and afterward, annually, unless changed, as a day to be devoted to 
the planting of trees and seeds of trees, designed to form permanent 
groves, or for ornament. This day proving cold and stormy the first 
year, planters competing for premiums, were allowed the next year to 
select the time most convenient. 

In earlier numbers of the Forestry Annual, the following suggestions, 
are also offered : 

Prairie farms need shelter most on the west, next on the north, next on the 
south, while their usefulness on the east, is not so great, though sufficient to call 
for planting. * * * A good combination for an evergreen belt, is two or three 
rows of white pine for center, two rows of Scotch or Austrian pine on each side, 
and two rows of red cedar, or arbor vitae outside of these, making ten or eleven 
rows, and giving, by difierent rates of growth, a belt with a conical cross-section, 
and limbs from the ground up. Another good combination is made of Norway 
spruce for center, white spruce next, and black spruce and red cedar, or arbor 
vitfe outside. 

The Scotch pine is, in many localities, found well adapted for outside 
rows, from its hardy habit. It needs more room for growth than the 
white pine. In planting wind-breaks, it was recommended that the out- 
side rows should be 9 feet si part, and plants 5 feet apart in the rows. It 
was remarked, that people, generally, are apt to overestimate the time 
it will take to secure returns of fuel from artificial groves. Cottonwood 
needs to be thinned the fourth or fifth year. If properly grown and cul- 
tivated, the poles then cut out, will average 2^ inches in diameter at the 



le-OREST tHEE planters' MANUAL. 29 

bottom, and 12 feet long. From a full stand, one-half, or 1775 poles, 
would be cut at this period from an acre. Green ash seeds thinning at 
six or seven years, and makes poles as large as those of the cottonwood, 
at four or five. Those who had tried it, say that it pays better to raise 
wood for fuel, than to haul the supply needed five miles for ten years. 

As for wood grown for other uses than as fuel, it was estimated that a 
crop of ash for hoop-poles, or larch for stakes, might be grown in from 
seven to eleven years ; and of oak and hickory, in twelve to sixteen 
years. Larch would grow to a size for posts in twelve to fifteen years ; 
and for telegraph-poles, in eighteen to twenty years, on valley lands, 
^''^alnut, hickory, elm, and other tie timber, might be fit for use in from 
fourteen to eighteen years. Cottonwood might be sawn at fifteen years, 
and white pine in thirty. 

As some of the foregoing varieties of timber are more cheaply propa- 
gated from cuttings than in any other way ; I again plunder the Transac- 
tions of the State Horticultural Society for a paper on the subject, 
prepared by me for its annual winter session at Owatonna, January, 
1877. 

THE PROPAGATION OF TREES BY CUTTINGS. 

A paper on " The Propagation of trees by Cuttings," by L. B. Hodges, 
Esq., of St. Paul, was- read, after which the paper was ordered on file for 
publication, and Mr. Jewell moved a vote 'of thanks to Mr. Hodges for 
his humorous and instructive essay, and also a rebuke for his reflection 
on the religious intelligence of the members of the Society. The resolu- 
tion was passed amid laughter and applause. 

The following is the paper in full : 

When a small boy, more than forty years ago, in the pleasant village 
of Canandaigua, N. Y., my attention was arrested by a magnificent 

great willow on the premises of Judge A , one of the pioneers of that 

region. It was a tradition among the boys that this immense tree grew 
from a willow switch which the Judge cut in Connecticut and used as a 
riding whip during his horseback journey from Connecticut to Western 
New York, and for over thirty years of my manhood passed on the broad 
prairies of the Northwest, I have often seen and heard of similar willows 
with very similar histories. Now, this is all well enough per se, but when 
intelligent and educated gentlemen, on the strength of such occasional 
and isolated circumstances, afiirm that all you have got to do in order to 
grow the willow, the cottonwood or the Lumbardy is to simply stick a 
cutting in the ground in -most any sort of a hap-hazzard way, they are 
simply leading the multitude astray and doing harm rather than good. 
The object of this paper is to furnish to the people interested in the 
propagation of forest trees by this particular method such practical in- 
formation as a long and varied experience has proved to be correct. 

If this sort of experience is in conflict with tradition and preconceived 
notions, why so much the worse for the traditions and notions. Ibegin 
by saying that the proper preparation of the soil is not only of primary 
importance, but also a prerequisite condition of success. 
Soil and its Preparation. 

Your ground must be good ground, it must be thoroughly subdued 
and mellow before planting, and right here I propose to point out and 
expose the practical nonsense and absurdity of the proposition that a 
cutting wiU grow anyhow, so you only stick it in the ground. Acting on 



30 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

this absurd proposition, huDdreds of thousands of all sorts of cuttings 
have been stuck in all sorts of ground by ail sorts of j^rople. The results 
are well illustrated in the paraole of the sower. 

(Before going to bed to-nignD, you fellows who havn't read that para- 
ble, for twenty years or more naa oetter look it over.) 

iSoon after tne passage of tne Timber Culture Act of 1873, I read in 
one of tne most ably-conducted and widely-circulated of our country 
papers, an editorial snowing tne settler how to grow a forest under the 
provisions of said act. Boiled down, it simply amounted to this : 
btrips of breaking two or tnree furrows wide, said strips twelve feet 
apart and the cuttings to be stuck twelve feet apart in the strips, in the 
raw, unsubdued sod; no furtner labor or expense necessary — result, a 
forest, i promptly denouncea tne absurdit}' of such teachings, but for 
all that, a neap of fellows had to try it on. It would be a good time now 
for them to report what luck tney nave had. 

In tne pursuit of knowledge under difficulties, my curiosity has led 
me over quite a large number of tree claims which have been planted in 
good faitn in accordance with such teacliings. 

Candor compels me to say that when you lind a muley cow climbing a 
tree stern-tirst, it will be up one of the trees so propagated on one of 
those tree claims. 

The Northern Pacific Kailroad Co., expended a number of thousands 
of dollars in just about tnat sort of a way of propagating forest trees from 
cuttings, and succeeded in demonstrating that it was just as easy to drive 
a government mule througn the eye ol a needle, as to grow forest trees 
in any such way as that. 

The idea of getting something for nothing, is a bad one. There must 
be an equivalent, a quid pro quo. 

in your dealings with eacn other, this idea of something for nothing, 
may work, occasionally, — but you can't bulldoze the prairie with any such 
nonsense. 

The cutting plunged full length into a deep, rich, mellow soil, under 
the vivifying intluences of heat and moisture, soon begins to expand its 
buds, and throw out its slender, threadlike, fibrous roots. If the ground 
has been properly prepared, tnose roots at once begin to draw nourish- 
ment for tne incipient tree ; the buds grow into branches, and in a few 
months you have a thoroughly developed forest tree, and the better cul- 
tivation you give this yonng tree, the sooner you get a tree that is of 
some, use in tne world. 

On the other hand, the cutting stuck in the raw sod, makes a failure 
in trying to get its roots into tne hard earth in a vam attempt for nour- 
ishment ; struggles along m a feeble, quiet sort of a way till dry weather 
sets m, and then quietly starves to death without a struggle or a groan, 
and the innocent author of this miserable abortion wonders what ails his 
trees, and sometimes gets mad, and uses " cuss- words," about the man 
who sold him the cuttings. 

Togo back to the starting point: break your prairie in June ; break 
shallow — back-set or cross-plow last of tieptember, turning up two or 
tliree inches of fresh dirt. 

If in a hurry, ^^to save your claim) harrow thoroughly, and plant your 
cuttings right along up to the time tlie ground sliuts up, and if not 
througn, finish up tlie job early in the ensuing spring, il in a hurry it 
is a good practice to raise a crop before planting cuttings. A hoed crop 
is best, and if well cultivated leaves the ground in admirable condition 



FOEEST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 31 

for tree-planting. If you sow small grain before planting, you can't be 
too careful in getting your seed perfectly clean. 

A few grains of wild buckwheat, or, what is more to be dreaded, 
pigeon grass, will give you an infinite amount o. trouble, and by in- 
creased labor in keeping it down, double the costs of growing the 
forest. 

In growing a/\Aind-break from cuttings, for a single row, I would pre- 
pare a strip of ground not less than 8* feet wide, by deep plowing ^nd 
thorough harrowing. 

I would have the ground as mellow as an ash-heap. 

I .would draw a line lengthwise along the centre of this strip, and 
about every twelve to eighteen inches would plunge the cutting in nearly 
or quite full length, and at once tramp the mellow earth firmly around 
the cutting ; and then I would keep that strip of ground clean as a 
hound s tooth. I wouldn't allow a weed or blade of grass to grow on 
that strip dedicated to the wind-brake ; and I should keep the cultivator 
running up and down the margin each side the row of young trees pretty 
often till harvest time, after which, if any weeds or grass had put in an 
appearance, would pull them up, carry them off and burn them up. 

I should repeat this process the next season, and in the fall would 
mulch heavy with good manure. 

I think by that time you will have that strip of prairie pretty well 
bulldozed, and a wind-break started that won't dry out or freeze out, 
and which will stand and grow in spite of grasshoppers or other 
enemies. 

Time of Preparing Cuttings. 

As far as the willow is concerned, most any time will do. 

I have cut them nearly every month in the year, yet would prefer cut- 
ting and planting right 'along "through the month of May, as being then 
liable to less loss and better growth. 

I confess in my own experience to more, satisfactory results with Cot- 
tonwood cuttings. cut and planted in October and November than in any 
other months. 

As far as willow, cottonwood and Lombardy cuttings are concerned, 
good, fresh healthy ones are about as sure to grow (in Minnesota) if 
properly handled, and under the most favorable circumstances, as either 
corn or potatoes. Failure is not necessary. Do your work»intelligently 
and thoroughly, and at the proper time, and success is the rule. 

Care of Cuttings till Planted. 
In the fall of 1874 I caused to be cut and hauled together, enough white 
willow to make five hundred thousand cuttings. I reduced some of 
this brush to cuttings in the fall, tied them up in bunches of a hundred 
each, set them up on end in trenches dug about a foot deep, threw a foot 
of dirt over them and let them lay till spring. The balance was 
stacked in good shape, covered with a layer of slough hay — threw enough 
loose dirt over it to keep the wind out, and let the thing go tiU it thawed 
out in the spring — then uncovered it, worked it up into cuttings and 
planted them. They came good and grew well, and I never knew any 
difference between those buried in trenches, or those of the stack. When- 
ever in the course of human events, I found a lot of cuttings drying up 
and aparently worthless, before planting I would " swell ""em up " by 
throwing them into the most convenient lake, pond or stream. But 
a good way is to keep them buried in the trench until you are reaxiy to 
plant. 



32 FOREST :TBEE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

There are plenty of cottonwood trees in Minnesota propagated from 
cuttings in the manner I recommend, now big enough to make a cord of 
wood each — 17 to 20 years from the cutting. 

You can grow 300 such trees to the acre. Can you grow anything that 
will pay better ? 

Is there any better way to "conquer the prairie," or to bulldoze and 
intimidate old Boreas ? 

From Dr. Hough's Report, page 554, I clip the following as worthy of 
a place here, and also because it touches some points that were over- 
looked in the preparation of the foregoing paper : 

Mr. J. L. Budd, now of the Iowa State Agricultural College, furnished 
for the State Horticultural Report of 1868, p. Ill, an article upon this 
subject, from which we condense the following : 

The red maple [Acer rubrum), silver maple {A. dasycarpum), ash-leaved miaple 
{Neyundo eceroides/, cottonwoods )Fopulus monilifera and ungulata), balm of Gilead 
(P. balsamifera) , Lombardy poplar (P. dilatata), white poplar (P. alba), sycamore 
{Platanus occidentalis), arid white willow {Salix alba), will grow from cuttings, and 
all thrive on the Western prairies. They should be cut early in winter, before 
severe freezing, in lengths of about one foot. They should be chosen from three- 
fourths of an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, and the lower end with a 
clean cut, without bruising or mashing. Of maples the two-year-old wood is best ; 
of the other kinds it makes but little difference, if the growth is free and healthy. 
Tie in bundles with willows, the lower end nicely evened so that when placed on 
the ground in spring every piece will touch the moist earth. Pack the bundles in 
a dry-gOods box with raoist prairie soil, putting the box where it will not get to 
dry or wet, and will Jiot freeze. With the first warm weather of spring clean off 
a spot under an old hay-stack, level the surface carefully, and set the bundles, 
butt-end down, closely together, upon the fresh moist earth; then cover them with 
straw so as to' keep them from the air. By the time the ground gets warm enough 
to plant, the base of the cuttings will be softened, and most of them will have 
small roots. 

WHITE WILLOW, (Salh: alba.) 

My own opinion of this valuable vegetable, is too well known in Minn- 
esota to justify me in repeating the arguments I have used in its be- 
half, lo, these many years. A few extracts and opinions from other and 
more authoritative sources, and I then cheerfully submit the character 
of this old friend to the jury. 

Again quoting from Dr. Hough's Report, page 108 : 

1. Salix albk, the white or Huntingdon willow, a fine tree which in proper soil 
will, in , twenty years, make an average of two cubic feet a year. The wood ia 
light, tough, easily worked, and proper for tool-handles, hoops,, cooper work, &c., 
and its bark is used for tanning, and in medicine as a tonic and astringent, being 
recognized in 'our jjharmacopoeias, and sometimes used as a substitute for Peruvian 
bark. Its active principle, salicin, is also used as a remedy in intermittent fevers. 
This willow has been already widely introduced, and in the prairie region of the 
Northwest it is valued above all other trees as a wind-break. It makes a very 
good fuel, and its wood is useful for a great variety of purposes. 

Professor Sargent mentions a willow between Stockbridge and Great Barrington, 
Mass., planted, it is said, as a cutting in 1807, that now, at 4 feet from the ground, 
is 21 feet 8 inches in circumference. 

An English writer in speaking of the willows, says that the white willow, when 
unpruned and grown naturally in favorable conditions, is the handsomest of the 
willow family, whether we regard its general outline, habit, or the peculiar white- 
ness of its foliage, which forms a pleasing contrast with the darker green of other 
trees. It comes forward rapidly on deep river banks and rich alluvial bottoms, 
too damp for most other timber-trees. In Great Britain within a few years willow 
timber has come universally into use as blocks for brakes in railroad cars, so that 
wood of good size has become scarce and high-priced. The charcoal of all wil- 
lows of suitable size is used in making gunpowder. Among other uses to which 



i'OREST 'TREE PLANTERS^ MANUAL. 33 

tertain kinds of willow are used in Europe, and for which it is especially adapted, 
are paddle-wheel floats, and for shrouding water-wheels, cart-linings (being not 
liable to spUnter,) turner's uses, shoe-lasts, withes for tying, &c. Something has 
been said of its incombustible properties, but more than facts will justify. 

Willow Hedges. — In Northern Iowa, where the Osage orange is too tender for 
the climate, the white willow has been found to answer an excellent purpose as 
well for a hedge to stop cattle as for a wind-break. Mr. Thomas Wardall, of Mitch- 
ell County, gives the following advice in the cultivation of this tree : 

Let every Northern farmer plant out a willow grove with good large cuttings in 
early spring. Plant four feet apart both ways, and cultivate well for two or three 
years, and a large growth will be secured. When five years old, trim out all but 
one plant to each hill, cut off stakes five and one-half feet long from these trim- 
mings, sharpen these stakes and drive them eighteen inches deep in a well pre- 
pared fence-row. Let the stakes be driven closely — not more than six inches 
apart ; nail a stay-lath near the top — a three-inch barn-batten answers the pur- 
pose well. MulctL heavily, or cultivate well and often. In two years a fense may 
be made that may be depended on to turn stock, but which will have the one 
fault of not being beautiful. 

The willow as cultivated by Mr. W. would not bear plashing or even weaving, 
but the tops afforded a constant supply of inditt'erent fuel. 

I have seen cuttings planted on the same day, and with the same soil and treat- 
ment in all respects, except that part were mulched and part were not, and were 
the former succeeded well, the latter utterly failed. I have seen the cuttings when 
not mulched, make a nice start, but perish in the heat and drought of summer. 
I have seen large cuttings, driven into an unbroken prairie-sod, make a fine growth 
when a sufficient mulch was applied to subdue the native grass. But in this man- 
ner of planting, the mulch should be heavy, and should extend at least five or 
six feet on each side of the rows to give the plants a chance. It would be better, 
within a year or two thereafter, also to break a greater width outside of the mulch, 
as the sod would interfere with the growth of tne trees, as soon as the roots should 
reach that distance. Straw, hay, stalks, manure, sawausc, anything that will me- 
chanically serve the purpose of mulch, will answer, but manure would stimulate 
the growth very satisfoctorily. * * * 

Cutting back may be resorted to in cases where there has been a poor stand, but 
not where the plants stand within twelve or fifteen feet of each other. The trees 
should not be plashed down or woven together, but should be stimulated to make 
a strong, upright growth. Late planting is even worse than close planting. This 
is especially true if the buds have started before the cuttings were made, or if 
they have been allowed to dry before setting. While young and tender, the 
shoots must be guarded from live stock. Calves will eat the tender shoots, and 
keep them shorn so close as to kill out the strongest plantings while young. Shal- 
low planting, thin soil, standing water on the surface, grass and weeds to smooth- 
er the plants, are all to be avoided or remedied. In short, avoid everything that 
interferes with a good stand and a vigorous growth, and you will never have 
cause to call the white willow a humbug. * ^ * 

The amount of fuel that may be cut from a rod of fence, taking all above the 
height of three feet, is much greater than most persons would think, and its re- 
production on the same spot, without further labor, makes it a crop of no mean 
value on the open prairie. * * * 

Mr. O. B. Galusha, in a lecture at the Ilhnois Industrial University in 1869, in 
speaking of the white willow, says : 

I regard this as probably combining more desirable qulities for cultivation in 
groves for lumber purposes than any other variety of the soft-wood, rapid-growing 
deciduous trees, and am decidely of the opinion that this and the golden variety 
are the best deciduous trees within my knowledge for wind-breaks or screens, but 
wish to be distinctly understood as not recommending this tree as a hedge-plant, 
or the planting of tuis or any other one sort to the neglect of other desirable vari- 
ties. Strong cuttings of this tree seldom fail to strike root at once in mellow soil, 
and will make a growth of from two to six feet the first season. It thrives in all 
kinds of soil, making as much wood in a given number of years as any other 
known sort, not even excepting the cottonwood, growing into a large tree, some- 
times four feet in diameter. The wood is of rather fine texture for a light wood, 
making a fair article of soft lumber which bears a fine polish. It is also valuable 
for making wooden ware, bowls, trays, &c. It also splits freely, which is a desir- 
able quahty in making fence-posts, rails, railroad-ties, and fire-wood. * * * 



34 i'oiREsi' fREE Planters* manual. 

The golden willow is similar in growth and texture to the white, but I think does 
not make so large a tree. I have measured about a dozen trees of this variety 
(golden), which were planted by tlie roadside 15 years ago last spring, and find the 
average circumference of the trunks at three and a half feet from the ground to be 
5 feet three inches. A white willow * * * which has grownfrom.asmall cut- 
ting put in 13 years ago last spring, now measures 6 feet 2 inches near the ground, 
forming a head or top 30 feet across. This variety, when planted in groves, grows 
tall and almost perfectly straight. I have carefully computed the expense of rais- 
ing ten acres of trees of this variety and converting them into lumber, and find 
the entire cost not to exceed $10 per thousand feet. This estimate is based upon 
actual measurement of the growth of trees. The land itself is valued at |40 per 
acre, with interest upon this amount, together with expenses computed as before, 
at 6 per cent, compound interest. I take ten acres in these estimates of growing 
artificial groves because it is desirable to have trees enough together, or in close, 
proximity, that the cost of putting up and removing a saw-mill M'ould be but a 
trifle upon each thousand feet of lumber sawed. 

The value of the willow in preventing erosion in the banks of rivers and streams, 
for holding the soil liable to washing away in valleys, and for tilhng up the chan- 
nels worn by small streams in loose gravelly soil, and preventing further gullying, 
must have been noticed by every observing person. This ofiice is performed by 
the multitude of long tracing roots that it sends through the damp soil wherever 
they. find nourishment, the shoots by which it multiplies and spreads from the 
roots, and sometimes when crowded, by the pro strate branches. 

Such willows when abundant and of large gowth, also serve a useful purpose by 
preventing injuries from floating ice in rivers, and they are turned to profitable . 
use by engineers for holding in place the new deposits of mud formed under the 
shelter of jetties and other hydraulic improvements. . 

Samuel Edwards of Burean Go. Illinois, writes to the Germantown 
Telegraph, of the white willow as a timber tree as follows : 

."It has been grown here since 1845, arid the more we became acquainted with 
it the better we like it. No other tree has made as rapid growth; a cutting set 
in 1845 is over four feet in diameter. Many are planting it all over the prairie 
regionfor timber; much is being set for hedge screens, which are cut down every 
few years at four feet from the ground, affording a great amount of fuel and poles 
for fencing. -. ■ 

formerly small sized cuttings were set, but for some years, stakes .five and a 
half feet in length from one to three inches in diameter, have been preferred, set- 
ting them 18 inches deep,. and a foot apart." 

General James S. Brisbin, U. S. A., writing from Omaha, to the Chicago 
IVi'^wne, April 27th, 1874, says : 

" The beautiful, green, graceful, white willow. Who does not love it ; and what 
ranchman does not hail it as his friend, and delight to sit in its cool shade ? 

It grows almost spontaneously. Shelter^ from heat or cold ; keeps off wind, ' 
rain, or sleet, and is a green spot on which to rest the eye, when all around is 
desolate, barren, and a desert. It grows from a shoot without roots, and foresters 
always praise its rapid and grateful return for the slight labor they bestow upon 
it. A tree of this kind, attains a height of 60 or 70 feet, and shows an immense 
trunk. For shade trees along the highways, it is unsurpassed ; repelling heat, 
wind and cold, and no drive can be finer than through an avenue of willows." 

J. Plank, .Eyota, Minn., March, 1874, writing to the Farmer's Union, 
says : : 

'' I think white willow makes the best atid cheapest fence. In six years (from 
planting), yoii can have a live fence, which will have cost you 25 cents a rod, and 
last a -lifetime. I have about a hundred rods of it that will turn any kind of 
stock. I am going to put in some more this spring." 

Jesse W. Fell replying to an article in the Prairie Farmer derogatory 
to the white willow, says : 

"If the writer of that article will call at our house at Normal, it will afford me 
much ])leasure to show him a section of a moss-covered fence-rail, that has lain in 
a fence more than forty years, and is yet perfectly sound; and if he will go with 
me to my native county, (Chester, Pa.) I will show him miles of fence made of 
the same material and that has lasted the same lengtii of time. That it makes 



FOlRfisT TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. ^5 

good fuel — I will not say the best — is not doubted. I therefore enter my earnest 
protest against the remark that "this timber is of httle value." The timber itself 
is of great value, especially in a country like this; and when, in addition, you take 
into account how easily and surely it is propagated, simply by cuttings; how rapid- 
ly it grows ; how sound and healthy a tree it is ; how vigorously it reproduces itself 
from the stump where cut down, and yet does not spread from the roots; I say, 
when all these things are taken into the account, it is questionable, whether, for 
the millions, it is not after all, the tree for this country and climate. I did not in- 
tend to say so much, but could not well say less, when one of my old friends had 
been so unjustly assailed. Whilst I am writing, fierce winds are whistling around 
me, the force of which is unbroken for many miles by tree or shrub except by 
those embryo forests, in which this very plant cuts the most prominent figure. ■ 
and I must raise my voice in its behalf." 

Col. John Scott, of Story county, in Central Iowa, reported in 18762 
that many miles of willow hedge were planted in that county, and that 
more than one hundred miles would be found a complete barrier against 
stock. Many miles had been set in a random, aimless way, and wete 
worthless as a fence, although somewhat profitable, as fuel and shelter. 

He gives his method for successful planting, as follows : 

1. The row should be made mellow and deep, and the better the condition as to 
richness, freedom from weeds, and good tilth the better. If in good condition for 
corn, it will do for the willow. 

2. The cuttings should be made before the buds swell in the spring ; they should 
be packed in moist earth to keep them drying out; they should be from the 
upright, rather than the lateral growth, as being more thrifty ; and may be from 
six inches to six foot in length, and from one-half to four inches in diameter. 

3. It is best that they be assorted before planting, so that those of about the 
sai^ae size may be planted together. 

4. They should be set in a straight line, and only one row planted, and should 
be ten or twelve inches apart. The cuttings are often set too closely. They 
should have room to spread themselves in. 

ASH AND LARCH. 

Failures have often been encountered in transplanting the larch, by 
overlooking the important principle, that the top should bear a corre- 
sponding relation in its leaves to the root in its radicles. Many of the 
latter are necessarily torn off with the most careful transplanting, and it 
is a safe rale to shorten the branches in a corresponding degree. The 
larch should be planted early in the season. 

THE ASH AND THE LARCH. 

In an article, by Mr. Arthur Bryant,* on the ash and the larch, he 
mentions the white ash, as one of the most important timbers in the 
northern States, and concerning the difficulty of raising from seed, he 
says : 

If the seed be sown soon after gathering from the tree, without drying, it will 
come up well in the spring ; but if dried, a great part will often fail to vegetate 
the first year, even if kept through the winter in damp sand. Care must be taken 
not to cover too deeply. Probably, forest trees, as well as others, often fail from 
this cause. When self-sown, they have no other covering than leaves, or a little 
earth, when concealed by mice or squirrels. If sown in autumn, ash-seed should 
be covered with litter during winter, to prevent washing out by rains. 

It seems very probable, that the seed of the green ash, is as often gathered and 
sown, as that of the white. The green ash is common along streams in the west. 
It produces seed more frequently than the white ash, and upon small trees, and 
is, therefore, more easily collected. The seed vegetates with more certainty, than 
that of the white ash, even if sown dry; and the young trees grow more rapidly 
for the first year or two. When in leaf, it may easily be distinguished from the 
white ash. The timber is similar in quality, but it has the disadvantage of never 

* " Traite genernl des Coniferes," p. 280. 



86 t'ORteST TbEte PLANTERS* MANUAL. 

becoming a large tree. The white ash is somewhat variable in its characteristics, 
and some of these variations have formerly been named and described by botan- 
ists as permanent varieties, or even species. It belongs to northern latitudes, and 
. only obtains its fullest development in colder climates than that of northern 
Illinois. The blue ash abounds in more southern latitudes than the white ; it is, 
in every respect, as valuable, and has the advantage of being more durable. The 
combination of strength, lightness, and elasticity in ash timber, renders it supe- 
rior to any other native wood for many purposes, and the demand for it, must 
always be extensive. 

Much has been said and written in praise of the European larch ; but, never- 
theless, little, if any notice has been taken of its peculiar fitness for railroad ties. 
[The writer highly commends this timber for this use, citing English authorities. 
It grows rapidly, closely, and in fifteen years, becomes 50 feet high, and 8 to 12 
inches in diameter. It should never be planted on wet land.] The American 
larch has been eulogized as fully equal to the European in durability. Michaux 
describes it as having the same properties. In the British Provinces, north of 
the Saint Lawrence, and in New:foundland, where it is highly esteemed, it grows 
upon upland, forming large masses of forest. In the United .States, it is found 
only in swamps — never on upland ; a fact, which Michaux, regards as evidence, 
that the climate of the northern limits of the United States is too mild for its 
constitution. From all the testimony; the writer has been able to collect from 
those who have used it, it apj^ears, that when in swamps, in the United States, it 
is, by no means, remarkably durable ; whether this is owing to soil or climate, is 
a matter of uncertainty. The European larch, is found, principally, in the central 
and southern parts of Eur(jpe, and is, therefore, better suited to the climate of 
northern Illinois, than the American species, which reaches perfection only in a 
much colder climate, and is, likewise, of slower growth. 

LARCH PLANTATIONS OF THE DUKE OF ATHOL. 

The plantations of larch, by the Duke of Athol, have been often men- 
tioned, and were begun in 1728. Between 1740 and 1750, James, then 
bearing this title, planted over 1,200 larch trees, as an experiment ; the 
tree being then new, in Scotland. In 1759, he planted 700 more, mixed 
with other kinds, on a hill-side very poor and stony, and with good 
.results. His successor, John, first conceived the idea of planting the 
larch, to the exclusion of other kinds, and covered four hundred acres 
of sterile hill-sides, with this timber. He died in 1774, and his son, 
Duke John, continuing the practice, had, in 1783, planted 279,000 trees. 
Between 1786 and 1791, he planted six hundred and eighty acres, with 
500,000 larches. He continued the practice till 1826 ; when he and his 
predecessors, had planted more than 14,000.000, covering more than ten 
thousand acres. It was estimated, that the larch, in seventy-two years, 
gained its fullest value ; and before reaching this age, the trees should be 
thinned to 400 on an acre. Estimating the trees at fifty cubic feet, worth 
a shilling a foot, the product would be £1,000 per acre on the poorest 
land for agricultural purposes that could be found in the country. 

The condition of the forests on this estate, was described, in 18731, as 
follows: 

The woodlands extend to over ten thousand acres, divided into five districts, 
each under a separate forester. The woods were still, mainly larch ; but, it had, 
in many cases, been planted in soil better suited for the Scotch fir. But one man- 
of-war frigate, the Athol, had ever been built from the larch, it having fallen into 
disrepute for ship-building, on account of the disease, which had appeared within 
the last thirty or forty years, and the recent substitution of iron for wood, which 
had reduced the calculation of £1,000 per acre, to £150 Or £200. The disease ap- 
peared universal, and no remedy had been found, short of cutting ofl'and replant- 
ing. It appeared to be atmospheric, and appeared as a fungus-like growth on the 
stem of the tree, generally, near the axils of the branches, then developing itself 
as a blister, and, finally, a hole or wound, as if a branch had been rudely broken 

1 "Reports on Forest Management," By Capt. Campbell Walker, p. 115. 



JfOREST TRteE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 37 

oflF. There was still, a fine larch wood of three thousand acres, covering hills 
that rise sixteen hundred feet above the sea. The forester in charge approved 
the practice of removing the lower dead limbs of the larch, which could best be 
done in very dry, clear weather, whether warm or frosty, as the branches were 
then brittle. Plantations of Scotch fir and other conifers, were being introduced, 
and the sycamore-maple was found to flourish extremely well. Larch trees 
planted by the Duke of Athol, in 1743, were, in 1795, nine feet three inches 
around, at four feet from the ground, and one hundred feet high. In 1869, these 
trees measured more than sixteen feet around, and were one hundred and twenty 
feet high. 

KATE OF GROWTH AND DURABILITY OF THE EUROPEAN LARCH. 

The experience of European observers, is very generally united in 
assigning great durability to this timber, and these opinions have been 
often quoted in essays intended to encourage its growth in this country. 
Carriere, after |,describing eight species of the iarta;, remarks, that this 
tree was known to the ancients, and that it is cited, by Pliny, as most 
valuable, on account of the fineness and elacticity of its wood. He 
highly commends it, as well for ornamental planting, as for its rapidity 
of growth, the large size that it attains, and the superior quality of its 
timber.2 Laslet says -."^ " The wood is of a yellowish- white color, tough, 
strong, and occssionally, a little coarse ; but, it is generally straight and 
even in the grain. It works up tolerably well, and is considered to be 
very durable, but has the serious drawback of excessive shrinkage, with 
a tendency to warp in seasoning." Grigor says,'' that when favorably sit- 
uated, no tree becomes so valuable in so short a time, and that it is par- 
ticularly durable, as posts and palings, and in all structures that come 
in contact with the ground. It is constantly employed for railway 
sleepers, for mill axles, and in ship-building. These opinions might, in 
fact, be extended almost indefinitely, and with but little to be said 
against it. It also possesses qualities which we scarcely have seen no- 
ticed in connection with its culture in this country, as the source of 
tanning material in its bark, and of Venice turpentine, in its resinous 
sap. 

A section was exhibited by D. C. Scofield, of Elgin, 111., in 1874, which 
had been imported as a small plant in 1858, and had grown to nearly a 
foot in diameter in thirteen years. He also exhibited a branch a fourth 
of an inch in diameter which had been seven years among decaying 
rubbish on the ground and was still hard and sound. This test was 
claimed to demonstrate the remarkable durability of the European larch 
in the climate of Illinois, while the native species (Larix Americana) 
would not probably have lasted even half that time. 

Its rapidity of growth, beauty of foliage, and general value as a screen 
and ornamental tree have been suflBciently proved in this timber as grown 
with us. But has its durability as a post, or when in contact with the 
ground, been proved? We apprehend that this durability depends up- 
on the conversion of sap-wood into heart- wood ; a change that has not very 
often been observed in the larch grown in this country or at least in the 
West. The Conifers, as a class, are found stronger and of better quality 
in proportion as their growth has been slow. 

In reference to the law which governs in the formation of wood, it is 
remarked by Bagneris* that in the broad-leaved species, the vessels of 

BTraite general des Coniferec, p. 280. 

STimber, and Timber Trees, p. 250. 

4Arboriculture, p. 232. 

*".MANUAti OF SYLVICULTURE,'' Translatjon'by Fernandez and Smythies, p. 31 and 59, 



38 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

the annual layers of growth are either distributed equally, as in the- 
beech, hornbeam, poplars, willlows, &c., or are congregated nearly to- 
gether at the interior of the ring, and are wanting or very small and scat- 
tered toward the exterior. This inner or porous layer is of spring 
growth, and about the same in width from year to year. The outer por- 
tion of the year's growth, formed later in the season, and generally 
called the autumnal layer, is composed of heavy, compact, woody tissue, 
and this varies in thickness from year to year, being sometimes thick and 
at others thin. These woods are therefore heavier, denser, and for most 
uses better in proportion to the rapidity of their growth. To this dass-- 
belongs the oak, ash and other kinds which show their rings conspicuously 
in section. Their heartwood is generally different in color from the sap- 
wood, being stronger and more durable; while in the kinds that have 
their vessels scattered through the whole growth of the year there is not 
much difference in color, density, or durability between the heart-wood 
and the sap-wood. 

But the conifers have no ducts as in most other exogenous woods — 
their ligneous structure being made up of a peculiar kind of tissue, dif- 
fering from common wood fiber, which may be known under the micro- 
scope by the numerous thin circular spots in the walls of the wood cells. 
These are found in no other woods except the gymnosperms. The outer 
rnargin of the annual layer, is in this class made up of harder and denser 
tissues than the inner, and this harder part is generally of about uniform 
width from year to year. The difference in growth is expended uj>0B 
the inner and softer portion, and varies in thickness according as the 
amount of growth has been greater or less. This harder portion on the^ 
outer margin of each year's growth gives the wood more strength and. 
durability ,_ at least until the more porous part has been filled by resin- 
ous deposits, as in heart-wood. For this reason, coriifers of slow growth, 
m which these hard tissues are more abundant, have their wood stronger 
and better for most uses than the fast-growing kinds. ■ ^ 

In visiting the plantation of Mr. C. D. Scofield, at Elgin, 111., during 
the last summer, he remarked that his larch, set as posts, scarcely lasted 
three years. It by no means follows that durability would not be 
gained with age, and the formation of heart-wood, or that this qual- 
ity naight not be imparted by injecting the timber with mineral salts. ' 

It is further probable, that the quality of wood may be found to yary 
with the soil, and that the larch, gro^^Ti on the high gravelly land, would 
differ from that of the rich prairie mold. It is within the knowledge of 
all lumbermen that sap-pine has no durability in the ground. It is rea- 
sonable that sap-larch should exhibit the same properties. We know 
that the pine in our soil and climate acquires with age the most desirable^ 
qualities, and it is equally probable that the same may be true of the' 
European larch. It is probable that the durability of this timber would 
be increased by stripping off the bark and allowing it to season for a 
time before cutting. 

CALCULATIONS OF COST FOR ONE ACRE OF LARCH ; BY M. L. DUNLAP, OF CHAM- 
PAIGN, ILL. 



Trenrh plowing ■ ,^5 

Harrowing and rolling .....' 2 

Three thousand plants ... ' qn 

Freight ; •' { 

'Spade and setting . ...... \ 3 



Cultivating 4 

Hoeing the young trees 5 

Cultivation five years 15 



Total $t>& 

The cost of land, interest 1 br six years, tajfes, aqcj the above in five 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 39 

years, amount to $125, making the total costs at that time $190. No 
further attention would be needed for the next six years, when, with in- 
terest and taxes, the cost would have amounted to $320. 

The crop at this time should consist of 2,500 trees, allowing 500 for 
loss. Of these, 100 may be taken out, leaving 1,500 standing. Those 
taken out would give 1,500 posts, worth $350, le^s $30 for cutting, and 
leaving $320. Thus, in twelve years, the partial crop will have paid for 
the land with interest, and Ave have 1,500 larch trees, large enough in 
twelve years more for railroad-ties, and worth, at 50 cents apiece, giving 
$800 for the land and trees, at the end of twenty-five years.* 

SUGGESTIONS ON PLANTING— IOWA EXPERIENCE. 

Mr. Suel Foster, of Muscatine, Iowa, in a prize essay on forest-tree 
planting, offers the following suggestions as applicable in this State :t 

The larch is of tolerably rapid growth ; growing half an int'h or more in diame- 
ter each year for the first ten years, and the next ten years fully equal to one inch. 

- This is in size equal to our black walnut, and it grows much better and 
straighter. The Uttle trees should be bought of nurserymen, for it is a nice and 
particular thing to raise the larch or evergreen from seed. I would recommend 

. to the farmers of Iowa to bxiy European larch at two years old, at $10 to ^15 per 
thousand. They should be set in the nursery rows, 4^ feet apart, and one foot in 
the row, so that when one row is taken out it will make a wagon road through 
the grove. Larch must be moved very early in the spring, for they are among the 
very earliest trees to start to grow. The ground should be plowed very deep in 
the fall, then plowed in the spring, as soon as possible ; harrowed and pulverized 
very finely by turning the harrow bottom up the last time. Then stretch aline 
and set with a spade. Have a mud-hole to dabble the roots all in. While the 
man uses the spade, a boy can handle plants. About 2,000 will be a day's work, 
and will cover about a quarter of an acre. They must be carefully plowed and 
hoed for two years, and if the weeds start too quick in May and June, the third or 
fourth years they should be plowed. 

Cost. — 8,000 plants for an acre, $80 ; setting out, $8 ; plowing and hoe- 
ing the first year, $8 ; plowing and harrowing the land before setting, $4 ; 
second year, $4 ; two years after, $4 ; interest on the land at $50 ; eight 
years, at eight per cent.=$32. Total cost of an acre of Europe? i larch, 
at eight years, $140. 

Credit. — By taking out 3,000 plants after two year's growth, to set in 
other ground, . at $20 per thousand, $60. It is calculated that 1,000 in 

• 8,000 will die, although those who are accustomed to handling and cul- 
tivating will not loose so man3^ Then half the plants are taken out, 

• leaving them 2 by 42 feet. When they are eight years old they will be 
poles fit for fence, two or three inches through and fifteen or twenty feet 
high, and another thinning out must be done, by taking out 2,000, leav- 

- ing the grove 4 by 42 feet. These poles are worth 5 cents each, $100. 
At eight years one acre has cost $140, and has a credit of $160. Those 
transplanted at two years from setting should be set 4 by 4^, covering 
about an acre and a half, and will cost, in setting out and cultivating two 
years, something over $100, including the plants at $60. 

PLANTING OF THE ASH. 

Mr. J. L. Budd, now of Ames, Iowa, in a paper published in the Trans- 
actions of the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society (1867-'68, p. 72) , 
advises keeping the seeds of the ash through the winter in kegs or boxes, 

♦Cited in an address by Dr. John A. Warden, in January, 1873. before the Kansas State Board of 
Astriculture. Report of that year, p. •262. See also '-OHIO AGRICULTURAL RtPORT," 1871, p. 55. 
f'lOWA AGRICULTURAL Rb-PORT," 1870, p. 328. 



40 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

mixed with clean moist sand, taking care that they become neither too 
wet nor too dry. Freezing will do no harm. The ground should be 
marked and prepared as for corn, and planted at the inter sections, placing 
four to six seeds in a hill. They should be carefully cultivated, and the 
next spring thinned to one plant in each hill, the vacancies being sup- 
plied. By planting thn^ thickly, the young trees get a straight growth. 
At the end of six years, every alternate row north and south should be 
thinned out, and at the end of ten years every alternate tree in each row. 
When twelve years old, on good soil and with proper culture the first 
four years, the grove would have 12,000 trees on 10 acres, averagings in- 
ches in diameter. By cutting the stump close to the ground, and cover- 
ing with a light furrow on each side, a second growth is obtained in 
eight or ten years, more valuable than the first. 

Prof C. S. Sargent, in speaking of this timber, says : * 
To develop its best qualities the white ash should be planted in a cool, deep, 
moist, but well-drained soil, where it will make a rapid groM^th. That the plan- 
tation may be as early profitable as possible, the young trees should be inserted 
in rows three feet apart, the plants being two' feet apart in the rows. This would 
give 7,260 plants to the acre, which should be gradually thinned until 108 trees 
are left standing, twenty feet apart each way. The first thinning, which might be 
made at the end of ten years, would give 4,000 hoop-poles, which at present price 
would be worth $400. 

The remaining thinnings, made at different periods up to twenty-five or thirty 
years, would produce some three thousand trees more, worth at least three time's 
as much as the first thinnings. Such cuttings would pay all the expenses of plant- 
ing, the care of the plantation and the interest on the capital invested, and would 
leave the land covered with trees capable of being turned into money at a mo- 
ments notice, or whose value would increase for a hundred years, making no 
mean inheritance for the descendants of a Massachusetts farmer. The planting of 
the white ash as a shade and roadside tree is especially recommended, and for 
that purpose it ranks, among our native trees, next to the sugar-maple. 

To some Minnesota tree-planters, a few words about the oak will per- 
haps be of interest. It has the reputation of being a slow grower, too 
slow for the planter to reasonably expect any benefit from his work. I 
am inclined to think this trait in its character has been somewhat exag- 
gerated. Thousands of acres in Minnesota, are now covered with groves 
of jack oak, the trees now large enough to make four good rails from the 
butt cuts, where only 20 to 25 years ago nothing could be seen but small, 
short, shrubby brush. Some of these new forests will jdeld nearly, or 
quite as much fuel and fencing per acre, as the average primeval forests. 

Such being the fact, and one not easily rubbed out, may it not be as 
well to look into this thing from a practical standpoint. Taking a hint 
from nature, let us look into this grub prairie business a little. We find 
usually the jack oak grubs most numerous — next burr oak and white 
oak grubs. How they got there, or how long they have been there are 
among the things no fellow can find out. With my spade and ax, I have 
"grubbed out" many thousands of them — have dissected them, and ex- 
amined them critically. I have found them in all periods of existence, 
from mere rootlings, to masses of roots sufl&cient for a tree a hundred 
years old. 

A very large area of Goodhue Co., Minnesota, the Banner wheat coun- 
ty of the whole world, was, when I first made tracks over it, covered with 
such grubs, and had they been left undisturbed by the breaking plow, 
spade, ax and grub-hoe, and protected from fire and cattle, Goodhue Co. 
would to-day be one of the finest timbered counties in Minnesota. 

*<iueTC\l8_Oak. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 41 

Nearly all the great wheat counties of south-east Minnesota, were 25 
years ago largely covered with just such grubs. The annaul prairie fires 
swept over them with great regularity and certainty, annually burning 
off the brushy tops, but leaving the roots generally uninjured. The roots, 
protected by the earth from much damage by fire, kept up their subter- 
raneous growth with great vigor, thus laying up the amount of vital force 
which has backed up these young forests to such speedy and wonderful 
development. And now my christian friend, if you are so fortunate as to 
own a few acres of such grub prairies, guard it as the apple of your eye ; 
suffer no evil to befall it, and in a few years you will count it among the 
choicest of your earthly possessions, t would thus "point the moral, and 
adorn the tale." But should you be compelled to commence, de novo, I 
will try to point out what I would do. After I had gotten my young 
forest well started; ground well subdued and in a high state of cultiva- 
tion — the surface tolerably well shaded by other young trees, I would 
plant the acorns among them. Repeated attempts and repeated failures, 
have convinced me that the young oak seedling demands considerable 
shade for a year or two, and won't tolerate too much hot blazing sun- 
light. I have had no trouble in growing the young plants to a hight of 
four to six inches most anywhere, but I have so far found it extremely 
difficult to get them much further along unless somewhat shaded. The 
same remarks are perhaps applicable to beech, birch and the coniferous 
tribe. The permanancy, great durability and longevity of this tree justly 
entitles it to a very high rank in forestry. With the exception of the 
conifers, no tree is more generally usefultocivilization, none more worthy 
of cultivation and perpetuity. I now proceed to again plunder that un- 
failing and inexhaustable fountain of forestry information, (Houghs Re- 
port) for further items bearing on this subject. 

The Oak (Quercus sessilifolia and Q. pedunculata) was relatively more 
important amoftg forest trees a century or two ago than now. Extensive 
forests of this timber have since been cleared for cultivation, so that the 
noblest forests are now among the hills. 

On account of diminishing supply and rising demand for oak timber, 
much has been done of late to promote its cultivation. Young trees 
shelter the soil from the sun, but as they advance they demand more 
light and room, so that many die unless seasonably thinned. In forests 
the oak assumes greater dimensions when grown with other oaks alone, 
for it may be laid down as a rule that it thrives best with the croivn free, the 
stem sheltered and in shade, and the foot under covering. The Q. pedunculata 
is disposed to develope many branches, but where this is not possible 
(as in forests of beech and oak) the stem is straight and free from 
branches to 70 or 80 feet, and the whole height 100 to 130 feet. The tap 
root penetrates 5 or 6 feet in good soil, so that the subsoil is of great 
importance in its . growth and quality. Moderately cleft and inclined 
limestones, and the milder clay slates, the richer sandstones and marls, 
granite, basalt, greenstone and clayey porphyry, and good peat are 
favorable subsoils for both kinds of oak, as they generalty continue 
fresh, and are not apt to hold water. The timber of thig kind is of fine 
texture, tough, hard, and heavy. It is the strongest and most durable 
timber grown in large quantities in Europe, and is indispensable in 
ship building, in the construction of mills, and structures in or near 
water, and when submerged is indestructible. The Q. sessilifolia does 
not grow so quickly but has a longer life, is more disposed to form 
branches, but may under favorable circumstances grow to equal size. 



42 li'OREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

The roots do not penetrate so deep, the wood is less tough and elastic, is 
more easily split, and therefore more prized by coopers. Being of coarser 
texture it is not so well suited for carving and cabinet work, and being 
heavier, it forms better firewood, the proportion being as 12 to 11. 
As a building timber it is little inferior to the Q. pedunculata. The latter 
prefers plains, warm sunny valleys, and outlying hills of mountain 
ranges, while the former is at home on the mountains themselves. They 
often grow together, but the Q. sessiUfolia ascends the slopes to a greater 
he^ht, although it does not grow so far north and prefers the south and 
west slopes. 

The oak is not by nature intended to form extensive and unmixed 
forests, but requires the aid of a shade-enduring and soil-improving tree ; 
for the growth of oak depends less on the kind of soil than on its qual- 
ity, depth, and freshness. No tree is better qualified to perform these 
functions than the beech. In coppice wood with standards or reserved 
trees, the oak enjoys the sunlight, and does not throw much shade on 
the coppice below^acquires moderate thickness, but at the expense of 
its branches, and comes to greatest maturity at 200 to 240 years, but 
when well exposed to the sun may be felled much sooner. In order, to 
obtain valuable timber in such cases, the trees must, ere they grow too 
old, be stripped of their lower branches, as far as practicable. 

Oak reproduces itself from stools, and is suitable for coppices, the 
wood (generally at the period of 16 years) being cut and peeled for tan- 
ners' use. The bark is most prized when grown on strong mineral soil 
on hill-sides in sunny e:jCposures, where the trees have not been too 
closely planted, and have room for development. It is best before.it 
begins to split. In higher situations the Q. sessilifoUa is said to yield 
bark in greater quantity and of better quality than the Q. pedunculata. 

The growth of oak depends less on the kind of soil than on its quality, 
the amount of humus, and, above all, of moisture contained in it. The 
best growth occurs in a deep, somewhat loose loamy sand, or sandy 
loam, but it thrives well on loam or sand. Although it prefers moisture, 
it will not grow in marshes unless drained. 

The oak thrives exceedingly well when mingled with beech, because 
its penetrating roots draw their support more from the subsoil, while 
the beech spreads its roots near the surface. This association does not 
prosper, however, in exposed situations or on shallow soils. 

MODE OF PLANTING OAKS RECOMMENDED BY THE SOCIETY FOR 
THE PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURE, ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 

To this society, formed in New York as a State institution in 1791, 
may undoubtedly be ascribed the first direct recommendation of a so- 
ciety for the planting of forests for their timber in the United States. 

In a circular issued at the beginning, they made particular inquiries 
concerning the propagation of the locust-tree, the possibility of intro- 
ducing the white mulberry, and the profit and propriety of raising in 
nurseries and transplanting hickory, chestnut, beech, ash, and other trees 
for fencing and fuel, and the planting of hedges. 

About 1795, a committee appointed to consider the best mode of pre- 
serving and increasing the growth of wood and valuable timber, reported 
in favor of recommending this where the soil was not better adapted to 
other uses. One of the committee, twenty years before, had allowed 
land worth $2.50 per acre to grow up to timber, then worth $12 per acre, 



J'OREST TREE PLANTFRS^ MANUAL. 43 

besides the land, which had been improved in the meantime. They 
insisted upon the importance of fencing out cattle; suggested the pro- 
priety of cutting off old woodlands entirely, so as to giye the -young 
trees an equal start; showed that woods should not be thtnned too 
much, as this would favor the growth of grass, to the injury of the trees; 
and pointed out a method of planting oaks that deserves notice :, 

. Oaks are best propagated by leaving the acorns on the. surface, of the ground, 
covered with the grass; but in this way the acorns are exposed to be devoured 
by animals. To prevent this it is recommended to preserve them through the 
winter and plant them in the following manner: First make a bed of loam about 
six inches deep; on this plant the acorns about two inches deep; over them lay 
another bed of six inches of earth, over that another layer of acorns, and so on, 
as far as the occasion requires. The whole must be covered with earth, to pre- 
serve them from the frost. Early in the spring the bed is to be opened, when 
the acorns, which will have begun to shoot^ are to be planted about a foot's dis- 
tance from each other. 

Another method of planting them, is to dig a small hole with a pick-ax, and 
drop the acorn, covering it with earth. This is a very simple method, but (-are 
must be taken not to bury the seed too deep; two inches is found to be the best 
depth; the less covering the better, provided the acorn is secured from birds and 
other animals. Another practice is to pare the earth with a plow and plant the 
acorns in rows, covering them with the turf This is not a great deal of labor, 
and will secure the acorns from animals. The distance of the rows may be at any 
man's pleasure, but the thicker the trees the sooner will the ground be shaded 
and the turf destroyed. As the young trees advance the weaker ones will die, 
and the vigorous and thrifty ones only survive. * * <- 

We often see in a transplanted fruit tree the top die down ai>d sprouts 
appear from the root, one of which, if spared, may become a vigorous 
tree. This is very liable to happen with the oak in bleak and exposed 
situations, and foresters sometimes anticipate this by cutting them Over 
by the surface of the ground after they have been planted a year, so as 
to develope new shoots, one of which is saved. 

In sheltered situations this becomes needless, and no time is lost in 
bringing forward the shoot as soon as possible. 

The managers of government forests in England, where oak is being 
raised for the royal navy, rear the trees from the acorn, and the trees 
are found to grow for the first few years more rapidly than if trans- 
planted. 

Much difference of opinion has prevailed as to the distance at which 
young oaks should be planted'; in fact, as many views have been ex- 
pressed as there are differences of circumstance, and each in its place 
may be best. It is often of advantage to,, grow other timber with the 
oak, and for this the fir has been planted in Scotland with best results, 
and this in exposed situations becomes essential as a shelter till the 
oaks attain a size to take care of themselves. In such a case, a distarice 
10 to 12 feet apart for the oaks, and the saine for the firs, making the 
distance between trees of alternate kinds 3i to 4 feet. The firs are eut 
out in a few years. It is thought that, besides the shelter thus gained, 
the oaks grow more rapidly with this mixture of young evergreens 
among them. (Browri's Forester, p. S64.) 

With the oak, its value depends rather on the quality than the length 
of its wood, and for ship building (its principal use) a straight trunk is 
sometimes less prized than one of a proper curve. Now this wood can- 
not be grown of best quality unless free access of air is allowed, and 
hence dense plantings are not economical. 

James Brown, a Scotch writer, mentions two lots of oak timber, one 
one hundred years old, with 200 trees to the acre, that sold for £360, 



44 FOREST TREE PLANTI^RS' MANUAL. 

and another of ninety years old, with 109 trees, that brought £868. The 
latter had grown with free access of air, and had an abundance of bends 
fit for ship building. But such trees growing low, and with spreading 
branches, do not yield so much bark for tanning, and for this use a 
dense, tall coppice is best for quantity, although its quality is not equal 
to that of wood grown in open places. 

Gak grown in free air weighs almost double that irom a dense shade, 
and its bark contains more tannin. 

OBLIQUE PLANTING. 

Among the established rules of planting are the three following. 

1. Set to the same depth as the plant stood in the nursery. 

2. Spread with the hand the fibers of the root in their natural direction. 

3. It is essential that the plant should stand upright. 

A recent writer* has shown that these rules have their exceptions, and, 
describing the usual manipulation of planting, says : 

The workman takes the plant in his left hand, holds it vertically in the middle 
of the hole to the proper depth, and with the right hand (not particularly caring 
for the direction of the roots), fill in the earth around the plant, crowding it down 
as it fills up, and press it down with the feet. The operation thus desribed would 
be called well done, if executed carefully and without slighting. But as we turn 
in and press down the earth, the radicles are crowded together in a vertical di- 
rection, like the rods of an umbrella when shut, instead of being in a natural pos- 
ition, and more or less plants will be lost. 

My plan would be as follows : 

Having thrown out the dirt, I would put about half of it back, so as to make a 
slope on one side, against which I would lay the plant, the roots being of the same 
depth as before being drawn. In this position it is easy with either hand to spread 
out the radicles, and finish by filling the hole and pressing in the earth, as com- 
monly done. Plantations thus executed in 1859 appear now sensibly better than 
those in adjacent grounds, executed at the same time and in the common way. 
But in this case the plants were hurried deeper than the rule prescribes, and to 
this may be due a part of the success. 

In deciduous plantations it is a rule to trim the young plants more or less, so as 
to preserve a due balance between the roots, torn and lessened by the extraction, 
and the top. Resinous species should never be subjected to this operation, but 
they generally shed more or less of the lower leaves, which amounts to the same 
thing, and leave only a tuft of small branches and leaves at the top, exposed to 
the winds and the weight of snows, which are most hable to injury the first winter. 

It therefore appears probable that a young plant would suffer less to have these 
lower leaves hurried, than to lose them by drying in the air, and that planting a 
little deeper is beneficial — rules to the contrary. 

On the other hand, if we plant young oaks in autumn, some vertically and oth- 
ers horizontally (it might not be the same in spring, and I give my own exper- 
iences), it does not appear to show any difference. It appears chiefly important 
that the plants be laid deep enough, while by the oblique method the roots are 
most easily placed somewhat in their first position. 

As to expense in planting, the difference of time is from 15 to 20 per cent, in 
favor of the method recommended, which has moreover a decided advantage of 
not being so liable to damage from the heaving of frost. 

I do not hesitate to recommend the burying of more of the stem than was cov- 
ered before, the proportion extending to two-thirds or more. 

PLANTATION OF EVERGREENS— PROFESSOR AMOS EATON'S DIREC- 
TIONS. 

Prof. Amos Eaton, in his Geological and Agricultural Survey of Rens- 
selaer County, New York (1822), alluding to the difficulty of transplant- 
ing evergreens, attaches importance to the most careful handli ng and to 

* M. Regimberu, in the "Jievue des Eaux et Forets,^' 1875, p. 139. The above is but a condensed ab- 
stract of tliis article. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERs' MANtJAL. 45 

the keeping of. the roots moist by retaining the soil upon them, or cov- 
ering with wet moss, cloths, &c. They succeed best, according to his 
observation, when the roots were not bent or distorted in planting. They 
should be cut off at a distance of one or two feet from the stem, and tak- 
en up without force or without wounding the body or limbs. He laid 
down the rule of never cutting off a limb until at least a year after trans- 
planting, and of never pruning evergreens at first close to the stem. He 
would leave four or five inches, which, after it had withered and died, 
might be cut loose without injury to the wounded part, which should be 
covered with some kind of adhesive paste. 

In selecting evergreens from the woods, care should be taken to obtain 
only those that grew in open and exposed situations, and, as nearly as 
might be, from a soil in composition, texture, and dryness as nearly as 
possible like that to which it is to be transferred. 

Deciduous forest-trees required less care, excepting oak, walnut, and 
ash trees, which required the same treatment as evergreens. 

EVERGREEN PLANTING IN ILLINOIS AND IOWA. 

Mr. Samuel Edwards, formerly of Mendota, 111., who has had an ex- 
tensive experience in planting evergreens, states his belief that the sur- 
face soils of Iowa and lUinois appear to be well adapted to this class of 
trees.* He remarks : 

Extensive plantings of pines and junipers may be made with perfect safety on 
sandy soils, and those having a thin layer of porous surface soil. But o^ &uch 
soils I would not advise any one to put out plants of less size than 1 foot in hight; 
2-foot plants would do better. Excessively dry seasons are almost certainly fatal 
to small plants on such soils. Puddling the roots with clay mortar is always ad- 
visable when planting out evergreens, being sure to have roots perfectly wet when 
placed in position for covering with dirt. In such soils, too, it is best to set deep- 
er than the plants stood in nursery. In moist localities arbor vitaes and spruces 
are perfectly at home. 

In the discussion oif this papar the opinion was expressed that the 
Norway spruce was the best ornamental evergreen for Eastern Iowa. 
The white pine had proved healthy, but the Scotch and Austrian pines 
had been badly infested with a kind of aphis, which injured the tree. 

In dry soils, evergreens had suffered from drought, but on porous soils 
they hacl generally grown with success. The relatively dry air of the 
West, as compared with that of Europe, appeared to account for the great 
difference observed with respect to the locations and conditions under 
which evergreens will thrive. It was remarked by one who had seen 
planting operations in Europe that— - 

Wherever a larch, spruce, or pine can be started, (even with rock near to the 
surface,) the plants grow with a luxuriance we can never attain here under the most 
favorable conditions. The forester there goes to his work of planting coniferous 
seedlings with the plants wrapped up in a dry rag. He makes a hole with a tool 
provided for the purpose, sticks in the plant without regard to shape or position 
of the roots. The cavity is closed by a movement of the tool and a motion of the 
foot, and the work is done. Yet the plants rarely fail to grow, and that with a 
vigor wonderful to behold on such sterile soil. 

EVEEGREEN PLANTING— METHODS AND ADVICE OF MR. R. DOUGLAS. 

Mr. Robert Douglas, of Waukegan, 111., in a lecture before the Kansas 
State Horticultural Society, sums up the whole substance of success in 
transplanting evergreens in a few words : "Plant early in the spring; 

♦"Transactions of Iowa Horticultural Society" 1875, p. 134. 



46 tOllEST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

nevfer allow the roots to become dry, and pack the ground tight, so that 
tliey cannot shake about or be moved by the winds." He would plant 
as soon as the frost is out of the ground, (first puddling the roots as soon 
as received), and plant a little deeper than they had grown in the nur- 
sery. The centfer of the hole should be elevated to set the tree on, and 
the' roots should be spread out and filled in compactly, and particularly 
under the tree, so that it will not sink. 

In his own practice he sowed the seeds in the spring, until May, in 
beds 4 feet wide, broadcast, and raked in. The young plants must be 
shaded, the first year at least, by lath, cloth, or brush, and his former 
practice was to lay frames of lath, with spaces as wide as the strips, over 
the seed-beds. Another, and by some regarded as a better screen, is a 
frame-work of poles raised upon posts about 6 feet high, and covered 
with brush. He would bed out the plants from 3 to 6 inches apart in the 
rows, and the rows. 12 to 18 inches apart, shading the first season, and 
working with the hoe. The earth should be drawn up to the plants at ' 
the last hoeing of the season, to prevent heaving out in winter. In two 
years from planting they will be nice stocky trees, averaging about 1 foot 
in height, andniay then be planted in nursery rows, 3 or 4 feet apart, or 
invshelter-be\ts and hedges. Three-year-old plants, 6, t 9 inches high, 
may be planted immediately into 3 or 4-foot r6ws. /His. advice in the, 
choice of kinds for different situations was as follows: :,,:, 

For hedges and screens, not intended to grow higher thap 8 feet, plant the 
Aii^eri^n aftor :vitae; for higher hedges and screens, plant Norway spruce; for . 
wiiid-toreaks, sjheailtering orchards, &c., plant Scotch pine or Norway spruce. 

Jh^qr Srnaixiehtal planting, use Norway spruce more freely than any other ever- 
green. :' '7 ■"" ..' . 

i 'would particularly call your attention to the European or Tyrolese larch, as 
uridoubtly the most valuable timber-tree for extensive planting, combining the 
durability of the red cedar with rapidity of growth, extreme hardiness, freedom 
from disease, and adaptability to almost every variety of soil.* 

EVERGREEN SEEDLINGS— OBSERVATIONS OF H. M. THOMPSON, OF 

•fc'- ■. ..-.■-.-.. SAINT FRANCIS, WIS. 

Losses Have very often been experienced in transplanting evergreen 
seedlings, and "these have often been attributed to the fact that they had 
been grown in the shade.; but this result, Mr. Thompson thought, was not 
wholly due to the sudden transition from shade to sunlight, but to other 
causes, such as the pulling up of the plants instead of digging with a 
spade, imperfect packing, and exposure of the roots to the air. It is well 
known that shade is one of the most essential requirements of a youiig 
evergreen plant, enabling it to retain an equable volume of moisture, and 
preventing evaporation from the soil. In order to ascertain what would 
be the result of exposure to full sunlight, in the spring of 1874 he had 
removed the screens from several beds of one-year-old Norway seedlings 
and Scotch pines, and from two-year-old Austrian pines and arbor vitaes:' 
Duriiig May and a part of June, the ' moisture was sufficient for a fine 
growth, and favorable to the development of buds and ripening of the 
wood. But for five successive days in July, the heat was excessive, ris- 
ing from 98 to 103 degrees: the surrounding objects tended to hinder a 
free circulaticjn of air, and the heat and evaporation must have been ex- 
cessi ve. \ ' . ' ^ ^ 

*l'^ Transactions of Kansas State Horticultural Societv,"\^Ti, p. 182. In some localities the larph. 
grown' rapidly, lias come to the size of a tine-looking tree before its wood has hardened, and such tim- 
ber by no means justities the reputation for durability here given. Oar experience with this tree has 
not yet been sulliciently long to enable us to determine how i'ar this valuable property in the timber 
will be acquired by age. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 47 

In autumn it was found that the loss of the Norway spruce was about 
fifteen per cent. ; arbor vitae fifteen per cent. ; Scotch pine less than half 
of one per cent. ; Austrian pine no loss. The loss of the former of these 

was attributed to the fact that the lateral roots of these species of seed- 
lings grow nearer the surface, and are, therefore, more liable to injury 
from heat and evaporation. In August of the same year, he transplant- 
ed 10,000 Scotch pines from the beds that had been exposed, with a loss 
of less than half of one per cent. In June and July, 1873, he transplant- 
ed about 30,000 Norway spruce, two to six inches in bight, without Joss; 
these transplantings being at an unsual season of the year, but in a cool 
damp atmosphere, and in a wet soil aftet a rain, the June and July trans- 
planted seedlings being sheltered by lath screens ; the August planting 
of Scotch pine having no protection until nearly a month after the trans- 
planting was completed. His practice had been for years to bed out all 
seedlings less than six inches in bight, and protect them the first season 
with a cheap screen ; larger sized seedlings either bedded out or planted 
in nursery rows and mulched ; the loss from drought under this treat- 
ment being too trifling to mention. His deductions from these observa- 
tions were — tbat nursery -grown seedlings have an ample supply of roo^, ., 
if properly handled, planted, and cared for, will survive and produce s^- 
isiactory results.* 

ON THE PROPAGATION OF EVERGREENS— P^XPERIENCE OF A SUC- 

CIESSFUL PLANTER. 

Mr. Samuel Edwards, of Illinois, who has had eminent success in 
planting evergreens, at the University course of lectures and discussions 
held at Rockford, 111., in February, 1870, made the following statements 
concerning the handling of evergreens : 

I have had a good many years' experience with evergreens. Growing them 
from seed in ordinary seasons on our prairies is rather difficult. A wet season, 
Uke the last, is better ;' but, as a rule, those who are inexperienced had better buy 
their trees. 

To grow evergreens, soil that is about one-third sand, with some mold, should 
be used. The seeds should be covered once or twice their diameter. They should 
be sown early to prevent their " damping off." This arises from excess of moist- 
ure in hot weather. We sow on dry sand to check it. Sow the seeds in beds four 
feet wide ; about two pounds of the seeds of the European larch, or of the pines 
to the square rod. Cover the voung plants with leaves the first winter. Leave 
the plants two years in the beds before transplanting. Birds are fond of the 
seeds, and must be watched. In getting trees from the forests, plant them as 
quickly as possible, and put a shade of laths over them. Plant them closely in 
the bed ; leave them in the bed generallv two years, and then plant the rows two 
and a half feet apart, put the trees close"^ together in the rows. We sowed our 
seeds last year at Green Bay. The atmosphere is not so dry there ; the birds are 
the only trouble. I prefer to plant evergreens Avhen in a state of rest, but 
they can be moved in a moist dav until late in the season. In that case I 
would plant late in the evening, water heavily, and protect them the next day 
from the sun. Trees for belts I place ten feet apart in the row, and break the 
joints with the next row. 

Red cedar has generally succeeded pretty well until three or four years ago. 
Hemlock is grown best in partial shade. The American yew is fine in the shade. 
It is similar in leaf to the European, and to the hemlock. It is propagated read- 
ily from cuttings in the shade, late in May. The Norway spruce will bear shear- 
ing well ; as also the arbor vitse. 

[In answer to queries.] When the branches are too thick, taking out the alter- 
nate branches often does very well. It will answer to move seedUngs that have 

•'Transactions of Wisconsin State Horticultural Society ," 1875, p. 90. 



48 J'OtlES'r TtlfiE PLANTEfeS^ MANUAL. 

not been transplanted, if you are careful. I would just as soon have trees from 
the woods ; but they must be carefully handled, and be small ones, not more than 
four to twelve inches in height. Red pine is difficult to handle. Austrian pine is 
attacked by a fungus. I find it here at Rockford. Siberian arbor vitse does very 
well here. In the shade, it roots readily from cuttings made with a part of the 
last year's wood left on.f 

Mr. Edwards, in an article published in the Iowa Agricultural Report 
of 1871 (page 346 J, explains more fully some points of his method in 
propagating evergreens and larches : 

The beds are made four feet wide, for convenience of weeding. By sowing so 
early, the plants attain the woody fiber before hot weather, which is so fatal to the 
plants while young. The beds when sown may be covered with damp moss, rags, 
or something of the kind ; this is to be closely watched, and removed when the 
plants begin to show themselves. Arbor vitee and many varieties of juniper are 
readily grown from cuttings four to six inches long, taken off in May, or the fore 
part of June, with an inch or two of last year's wood, and planted two-thirds of 
their length in the ground, the lower end in pure sand. Cuttings of this kind, and 
of small plants of evergreens should be shaded in time of extended drought, and 
should receive a liberal watering every two or three weeks, followed, before the 
surface dries with a mulching of dry forest leaves, sawdust, or other litter. The 
idea formerly so prevalent tliat evergreens were more difficult to transplant suc- 
cessfully than deciduous trees, is not sustained by extended experience. It is now 
-■generally known that the roots of evergreens must never dry in the least while 
out of the ground. Transplanting can be done from opening of spring until time 
of bursting of the buds. Even after growth of an inch has taken place, they may 
be successfully planted if the roots are grouted as soon as they are taken from the 
ground and well watered and mulched when planted. Shading the tops when late 
planted makes success still more certain. Early planting, is always advisable. In 
time of severe drouth large specimens, at other times neairly certain to die, may 
be safely transplanted if the work is carefully done and the tops are watered eacli 
evening. From the time when the terminal buds are formed until the middle of 
September, transplanting may be done with sefety. In an extreme instance, I 
had good success with a lot of thirty or forty, from the forests of Colorado, planted 
at their arrival, just at the opening of winter, by covering with leaves so deep as 
almost if not entirely to exclude the frost. It has been generally supposed that 
late fall planting of evergreens, or taking up plants in the tall and preserving them 
for early spring planting or shipment, could not be done. Robert Douglas & Son, 
of Waukegan, 111., however, have for two past winters kept millions of young 
plants in tlieir frost-proof lighted greenery with the most perfect success. Their 
discovery or use of this mode is of great value, for those wanting trees sent South 
can thereby plant much earlier, and have them established and growing before 
the dry, hot weather comes on. 

Immense quantities of evergreen plants will be in demand during the next few 
years in the prairie States. Our people thus far have only thought of planting 
them for ornamental trees on the lawn or for screens. But timber culture in 
earnest is about to begin. European larch and the pine will doubtless be planted 
in immense numbers. From experience in planting larches four to six feet high 
in the fall, it is my opinion that we shall eventually adopt the plan of setting out 
our two-year and older larches at that season. If small, mulch liberally. When 
set in spring, they ought to be put out very early, as they start the first thing in 
spring. They do not thrive, unless planting is done before starting. 

Many evergreens were injured by the unprecedented freeze of last October, in 
conjunction with the excessively 'wet seiison. This conclusion seems probable 
from the fact that evergreens in very dry situations were almost entirely exempt 
from injury. While tree planters regret losses from casualties of this kind— to 
the men whose hearts are in the business, such drawbacks act only as incentives 
to increased diligence in the good work. True manhood, it has been well said, 
is only developed in bravely meeting and, under God, overcoming obstacles. 

MANAGEMENT OF THE PINE TRIBE.* 

At the sixth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement 

t "Third Report of Trustees of Illinois Industrial University," p. 385. 
*"TranBactions Brit. Asso. Sci.," 1836, p. 104, 



FOREST TREE PLANTpms' MANUAL. 49 

of Science (1836) a paper from John Nuttal, of Tittour, county of Wick- 
low, w-as read on this subject. Having noticed that almost all the plants 
of Pinus sylvestris and other species, when planted in a light clay-slate 
soil, oh exposed situations, grow too rapidly, or out of proportion to 
their rootings, and thereby become wind-waved, and that those which, by 
accident, had lost their leaders took a strong hold on the ground, he 
commenced a series of experiments, as , follows : In the spring, when 
the buds were fully developed, he went over those that were suffering 
from the foregoing causes, and. broke off all the buds except those on 
short branches. By this processtheir upward growth is checked for a 
year, the .trunk increases in bulk, and the plant roots much more freely 
than if -the shoots had been allowed to grow. New buds are formed 
during the summer, and in the following spring these plants present the 
most vigorous aspect. 

The larch he cuts down to a strong lateral branch, on the windward 
side, when possible. These soon begin to spread their. roots, increase in 
size similarly, and utimately become choice trees. In some instances he 
had cut them down a second time, when he found it necessary, and with 
equally good effect. 

PLANTING OF WILD EVERGREENS IN IOWA, A8 RECOMMENDED BY 

D. W. ADAMS. 

The following suggestions upon the planting and care of evergreens, 
by D. W. Adams, Esq., of Waukon, Iowa, is founded upon experience, 
and is worthy of attention.f 

I have practiced the following method of taming wild evergreens, with perfect 
success: At the projier season for transplanting,' proceed to the grove where the 
young plants are abundant, well furnished with common boot or other convenient 
sized boxes, Indss, pruning-knife, spades, and buckets. Make a puddle of rich 
earth and water ; as fast as the plants are raised, prune away the dead and de- 
formed branches, dip the roots in the puddle, and pack upright in the boxes, with 
damp moss among the roots, and so continue until the box is crowded as full as 
possible. But one tier shoulcl be put in a box. Then nail a few slats on the top, 
but be sure- and have plenty of ventilation, as there is great danger of their heat- 
ing if the boxes are closed too tightly. As fast as the boxes are filled, place them 
in a cool, shady place till all are full ; then load them on a wagon and lose no 
time in taking them to their destination, where, of course, they should be planted 
without delay, in 'accordance with the directions given for seedlings. _ If your 
plants are taken froiii a situation much shaded, which is not advisable, it will be 
well to give them a little shade during the first summer. When young evergreens 
are taken froni the forests, it is seldom advisable to plant them at once in their 
permanent lo'Cation. Usually they are poor, weak, straggling things, not at all 
ornamental.' They should be taken from the wood to the nursery,' where, after 
receiving from two to four years' careful culture, as described for seedlings, they 
will become of a rich dark green color, the foliage will become dense, and the 
form symmetrical. Then they are prepared to come out and display their charms 
upon the lawn, or show their usefulness and beauty in the grove or screen. 

Selection of Varieties in Planting Evergreens in Iowa. ■ 

The varieties of evergreens adapted to the climate of our State (Iowa) are not 
very numerous, but rnost of them have more or less good qualities to recommend 
them. Of course, before selecting his varieties, the planter will decide upon the 
object to be attained by the planting. If his object be shelter, he will choose 
strong, rapid-growing varieties, that are cheaply procured and easily transplanted. 
If he is growing a grove for timber, wood, or fencing, he will, of course, keep in 
view the particular object for which they are intended, and select accordingly ; 
while for ornament alone, he would make a very difi"erent selection. Perhaps a 

t" Iowa Horticultural Reports," 1867, p. 16. 



50 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

word or too descriptive of some of the more valuable kinds wouldnot be out of 
the Avay. 

First on the list for general usefulness, I place the Norway spruce. It is easily 
transplanted, of rapid growth, fine form, and grows to a large size. It makes a 
very ornamental hedge or screen, is a fine single tree On the lawn, or a shelter 
belt impenetrable to the wind. Scotch pine is easily transplanted, grows rapidly 
while young, and makes a strong, spreading tree, that always gives satisfaction to 
planters. I know of no evergreen that will make a shelter so quickly, and the 
young trees are very ornamental. Austrian or black pine is every way a much 
finer tree than the Scotch, except that while young it is a slower grower, and is 
more impatient of removal. A large Austrian pine, clothed in its garb of rich 
dark green, standing up unscathed against our fiercest and coldest wintry blasts, 
looks the very impersonation of sturdy vigor and health. White pine has many 
friends, and is the most valuable of all the' pines as a lumber tree. It is of rapid 
growth, has beautiful light green soft foliage, but is rather difficult to transplant. 
Red cedar is a tree of moderate growth, easily transplanted, valuable for screens, 
and invaluable for posts, as the wood is very durable. White cedar, or Arbor 
vitse, is also useful for ornament and screens, but will not be largely planted. The 
native spruces, when they can be procured cheaply, are of much value, and may 
be extensively used in groves or otherwise. Balsam fir is probably the least val- 
uable of all I have mentioned. While young, it is quite ornamental, and is easily 
transplanted, but it soon becomes shabby, is comparatively short-lived, and the 
wood is of very little value for any purpose whatever. 

TRANSPLANTING OF LARGE EVERGREENS AND OTHER LARGE 

TREES, AS RECOMMENDED BY MR. D. C. SCOFIELD, 

OF ELGIN, ILL.* 

Large nursery-grown, oft-transplanted trees, may be removed with as much 
certainty of their living as small ones. The hardy evergreens, such as Norway 
spruce, Scotch, Weymouth (or white), and black Austrian pines, may be removed 
from the height of twelve to eighteen feet as safely as from two to four feet. The 
method of removing is the same as of small trees, and they have no more need 
of a large ball of earth to secure their growth than a plant of twelve inches. 
True they must be taken up with great care to preserve the roots from breaking 
on being moved, or from exposure to a dry atmosphere, and when set, especial 
care must be taken to keep the roots in their natural position, thoroughly pack- 
ing the earth among all the roots with the fingers, so as to exclude the air and 
retain moisture. This should be done by suspending the tree in the hole, which 
should be made sufficiently large not only to receive the roots of the tree, but 
also the planter to readily get to his task. The earth must be in as fine tilth as for 
planting corn, and must never be wet or muddy, and when thus planted the 
earth around should be pressed thoroughly with the feet, and when well planted, 
a quantity of coarse mulching of rotten straw, leaves, or better, spent tan-bark, 
should be put around the tree and cover the surface from two to four feet on all 
sides, and from three to six inches in depth ; but do not pack too closely against 
the trunk of the tree. Three strong stakes six feet high should be set four or 
five feet from the tree at equal distances from each other. A collar or band should 
be fixed around the tree five or six feet from the ground, to which strong hay 
bands should be fastened, and then to each stake a piece of fence-wire, which 
will not shrink or expand. 

In the transit, the roots should be secured with moist fine straw, hay, or moss, 
so that they shall not at all lose their native condition. When the tree is thus 
set a few pailfulls of water may be poured upon the ground so as to settle it, as if 
a great rain had done the work. When dry, spade up often, and mellow the soil 
to give the air circulating and condensing room in hot weather. Then replace 
the mulching about the tree. The less of earth retained in which the tree for- 
merly stood the better, as from it the substance or nutriment necessary to feed 
the tree is entirely exhausted, and the myriads of feeding roots running off in 
every direction have been left in the ground. To retain the entire ball as when 
removed in the frost, would be to not only stop the growth of the tree, but to 
starve it to death before the fibrous roots could extend far enough to procure nec- 
essary food. I have had large evergreen trees stand thus, scarcely living for three 

♦"Report of Iowa State Horticultural Society," X857, p. 22, 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 51 

or four years, and only from freely feeding the ball with liquid manure were they 
'kei'it alive ; for in our ignorance we supposed we must remove as much earth as 
possibe to make an evergreen live. We now send our large trees off by the car- 
load, that are several days on the transit, and yet all are reported to live. 

The difference between the forest-grown evergreen and the nursery-grown is, 
the former has but few roots, the latter has them in great abundance, and numer- 
ous in proportion to the number of times it has been transplanted, by which a 
great mass of central roots hold in their custody with what may be called "a 
death grasp " a quantity of earth, while the former will retain none. _ The tree 
also makes a more compact shade and more beautiful for oft transplanting. Per- 
haps no tree in the whole forest family is more tenacious of life when rightly 
handled, and in the right season, than the evergreen, and no tree is more sure to 
die from improper exposure. The sap of the evergreen is resinous, and coagulates 
in the sun's heat as soon as the bark of the root becomes warm in a dry atmos- 
phere, and cannot be dissolved by any application whatever; the flow of life is 
obstructed and consequently the tree dies. But let the roots be kept moist, the 
great supply of resin in every department of the tree more active and abundant 
from its ever-living foliage, every leaf of which forming a piirt of the active life- 
giving influence, becomes more tenacious of life than any other tree. Pine trees 
were taken from my ground last spring, each one of which filled a lumber wagon 
box, and only one could, be carried in the load, and yet grew apparently as well 
as if left standing in their native bed, though not as much. There have been 
many hundreds of large trees taken annually from my grounds, and yet only in 
the case of bad treatment have any perished. 

To the above the secretary adds a remark, that it is highly important 
before setting trees that have had their roots puddled, to dip them in 
v^^ater to dissolve or soften the soil that has dried upon them. If received 
late in the fall, he advises that they be heeled in, in a sloping position, 
just before the ground freezes, the soil being finely mingled with the 
roots and between the tops, and thus cover them completely. If planted 
in the fall, they will usually dry out, especially in a snowless winter, 
and all living circulation, except in the roots alone, will be thereby for- 
ever stopped. He adds as his experience, that the white pine is one of 
the easiest and safest of all evergreens to plant. 

MISTAKES IN PLANTING FOR ORNAMENT.* 

In planting for ornament, a want of taste is often exhibited in arranging the 
specimens. A little careful thinking before commencing operations will often 
avoid after-regrets over our mistakes. It is a mistake to plant trees too close to 
our dwellings. It is a mistake to plant all trees in parallel lines, as they look 
stiff and repulsive to the eye. Still one row running parallel to the public road 
is admissible ; but in this case do not plant them too near together, so as to ob- 
struct a view of the road when they attain size and age. We may also suggest 
that obstruction of desirable points of view should be considered in all our plant- 
ing of trees. Plant the inside rows in graceful curved lines, with here and there 
a group of from eight to ten acres. Plant only one variety of trees in each group; 
but do not plant all the trees in curves and groups. Single speciinens properly 
distributed are objects of interest to the eye, and where the size of grounds per- 
mits eight or ten trees in a circle present a fine appearance. Do not mix decidu- 
ous trees with evergeens in groups, rows, or circles. It gives a mixed, broken 
expression to the lawn in winter. While we may imitate nature in our groupings, 
yet it is a part of the art of prairie and city lawn making to modify, and even 
improve on nature's capricious modes of planting and arranging. 

The preceding pages concerning evergreens, afford mvich valuable in- 
formation to the tree-planter ; and this branch of the subject would now 
be allowed to drop, had we not something in the way of a Minnesotians 
experience in this branch of forestry. 

The following paper, entitled, a " Plea for the Evergreen," was prepared 

*From a report by Samuel Bowers, with discussions that followed. "Iowa Hort. Report," 1875 
page 97. 



52 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

expressly for this work, at my urgent solicitation. Ha\dng personally 
known the author, Mr. Kepner, for many years, as an unusually success- 
ful tree-planter ; as a practical, conscientious man ; and, as one of the 
most successful horticulturists in Minnesota. I regard this Minnesota 
experience, as given by Mr. Kepner, as of great practical value, and very 
approjDriately entitled to a place among these pages. 

A PLEA FOR THE EVERGREEN. 

Of the delightful prospects to be seen on our prairies, in the summerj 
no Minnesotian need be told ; the older settlements, dotted as far as the 
eye can reach, with beautiful groves of young timber ; ranging, in 
size, from the clump of a few specimens, to the tract of twenty acres, or 
more. These groves have nearly all grown up, within the memory of 
the older settlers, and have transformed, what was then, a monotonous 
landscape, into a country, so beautiful, that it seems a blessed privilege, 
even to live in it. 

Now, let us look at this same picture in the winter. We drive along 
over the same country ; but, how every thing is changed ! This is the 
same road ; here, are the same farm-houses ; here are the same groves ; 
but, they are leafless, — and, there is no color, to brighten up the view ; 
and there is scarcely anything to obstruct the fury of the fierce winds ! 
We are disappointed ! We thought these farmers had wind-breaks — 
about their habitations. So thev had, in the summer, when the necessity 
for them was not very apparent. And we drive over many weary miles 
of this kind of country ; but, we must acknowledge, that it is very cold; 
and, notwithstanding the many fine buildings which we see, on every 
hand, the country has not that home-like aspect, which has lingered in 
our memory, since our summer visit. 

But, here, at last, we find a different scene. The atmosphere has 
changed, — it appears to us, by contrast, — to that of Indian summer. We 
hear the wind howling in the air, overhead ; but, we do not feel it, as we 
did ; but, now, what is the matter ? 

Here are some hundreds of evergreen trees, disposed in groups and 
belts, about a farm-house, which we find, on inquiry, to have been trans- 
planted, from the forest, a dozen jesixs ago, by the proprietors own 
hands ; at no appreciable expense, save the few days work then, with 
additions of other trees, since, from time to time, and occasional day of 
loving care and attention afterwards. Here, we have a green landscape, 
a bit of summer, in the middle of winter. 

Nothing very fine yet, it is true, but jDromising much in the future ; 
but, still, enough to add much to the attractions of the home ; enough 
to reduce the cost of the winters fuel quite noticeably ; enough to shelter 
every living thing about the place in the coldest storms, of the coldest 
winters ; and, enough to repay the planter many times its cost, in beauty 
alone ; for, "a thing of beauty, is a joy forever," and, is worth striving 
for, even on the farm. 

And it is to the e3^e, — to the love of the beautiful, to which Ave must 
largely appeal to make farm-life more attractive, and this keeps the boys 
and girls on the homestead, instead of going to town, for we must ac- 
knowledge, that, in home adornment, our city friends are far ahead 
of us. 

The foregoing is no fancy picture, and the object of this paper, will be 
to induce the farmei-s of Minnesota, to assist, and, to try to show them 
how, they may assist in greatly multiplying the bright side of this 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS* MANUAL. 53 

picture. Or, in other words ; tliat, in planting about the home, many 
evergreens should be used for the groundwork ; and, a few deciduous 
ones, for variety, instead of many cottonwoods, &c., &c., and a few ever- 
greens, as now ; that is, to reverse, in a measure, the usual order of 
planting about the house and grounds ; in this, our cold and bracing 
climate, and thus have shelter and beauty in the winter, when both will 
be more appreciated, than they are in the summer. 

When it is taken into consideration, how easily the different kinds of 
native varieties are transplanted ; and, how very fast some of them grow, 
in almost any kind of soil, we are greatly astonished, in traversing the 
country, to see how very few people have availed themselves of the 
bountiful supplies which nature has furnished, in many parts of our 
State, and which can be had merely for the trouble of digging. And . 
when these are not available, we can have recourse to those of nursery- 
men, who make a specialty of evergreens ; or, to those persons who ad- 
vertise in our agricultural and horticultural journals, to furnish forest 
seedlings, in any desired quantity, either of which parties, will furnish 
enough to shelter the home, for a very few dollars. 

VARIETIES. 

That sort which is found to succeed best in your locality, is the sort 
most largely to plant. For instance : In this part of the State, (in east 
Olmstead county), there is nothing like the white pine.. We have planted 
a hundred fold more of this, than of any other variety. One on the 
lawn, twelve inches high when planted, thirteen (13) years ago, measures 
to-day, with tape-line, 8 inches from the ground, forty-one (41) inches in 
circumference, and twenty-one, (21) good, long paces around the lower 
tier of branches. The pines, — Austrian, Scotch and Black, are all good. 
So is red cedar and arborvitse. So, also, is Balsam fir. But, it is not 
desirable to enumerate, as each one will be obliged to content himself 
with such as will be best adapted to his needs. The important business 
is, to plant, and to do the work with care ; when, in nearly all cases, 
there will be success. The per-centage of loss, with me, is no larger 
in evergreens, than in cottonwoods, or any other variety of deciduous 
trees. 

PREPARATION OF SOIL, PLANTING, &c. 

Any soil that will grow a good crop of wheat, will be suitable for ever- 
greens. It must be well prepared, — deeply plowed, and finely pulver- 
ized. It may be last seasons breaking, or the oldest land on the farm; 
there is very little difference, but in either case it ought to be mellow, 
and in good heart. A good plan is to- prepare a strip, where there is to 
be a permanent wind-break; on the North or West side of the lot, which 
it is desired to improve; and for two rows of trees, of large growing kinds, 
as the pines, or spruces ; about twelve (12) feet wide ; for smaller grow- 
ing sorts, 10 feet will do. In this strip, mark out two rows, or draw two 
lines five (5) feet apart, for the large, or four (4) for the smaller growing 
kinds. 

Now we are ready for the trees ; and if they are to come from the for- 
est, we choose a rainy, or at least a cloudy day in the spring, (never in 
the fall), just about the beginning of seeding ; or, if time is no object with 
you, wait till the buds swell; (don't wait till they have grown), the time 
of which will vary nearly a month, in the different varieties. This is the 
very best time to move all sorts of overgreens, although we know, that an 



54 FOUEST tree PLANI'ERs' MAKtJAL. 

expert can transplant them successfully at almost any season of the year. 
Take your wagon, a few wet horse blankets, to cover the trees as fast as 
dug ; and go to the place previously selected, and carefully dig and cover 
such trees as you wish, always remembering, — andlivishto impress this fact 
upon the mind of every one who undertakes this business: — that the roots 
MUST NOT RE ALLOWED TO DRY IK THE LEAST ; or be exposed to the sun or 
wind, for a moment, if you ivish first rate success ; and iftheroots should once be- 
come nearly dry, throtv them away at once, as it will only be labor lost to 
take them home and plant them. And also, if you wish to make fine 
trees in the future, you must be content to select small ones now, from 
two (2) to eighteen (18) inches high; the smaller the better. Nursery 
grown trees may safely be somewhat larger ; but even in this ■ case small 
ones will be best, and they will certainly cost less. If you are obliged to 
use nursery grown trees, select or order your trees early ; dont be put off 
till June. Two or three year-old seedlings, which will be from two (2) 
to eight (8) inches high, will be most profitable, but if it suits your case, 
get them larger. 

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. 

Raising evergreen seedlings is a very simple and easy process to one 
who understands how to go about it ; but to the novice it is very slow 
and unsatisfactory ; and believing that the time gained by the former, 
in planting trees already grown, will more than compensate for the dif- 
ference in first cost, even if he should succeed and grow first rate seed- 
lings, I would not advise planters generally to raise their own trees, 
but will here give, for the benefit of those who ivish to do so, a method 
which has succeeded well with me : 

Send your order to a reliable seedsman early enough to have your 
seeds on hand by the time the ground will be fit to work in the spring. 
Make long, narrow beds, east and west if possible, not more than two 
(2) feet wide, with eighteen (18) inch alleys between. Sow seeds broad- 
cast twice as thickly as you would sow oats, (5 or 6 bushels to the acre,) 
and cover nearly one (1) inch deep by sifting over them good, mellow 
soil with a coarse seive. 

It will be a good plan, if you have time, to prepare your beds in the 
fall previous, so that the seeds can go in early in spring, as it is quite 
important that the young plants should have a good start before hot 
weather sets in. Having the seeds in the ground, the next thing will be 
to stick brush (evergreen will be best but others will do) along the south 
side of the bed, to partially shade them, so that the sun Avill not shine 
long at a time upon any one place ; as, without this shading, the young 
plants will be scorched nearly as fast as they come up. If the weather 
is dry, the ground must be well soaked once a week. But if the weather 
should be wet it must not be kept too moist or too much shaded after tlie 
plants are up or they will rot. If they appear likely to do this, a little 
dry road dust sprinkled on them, if you have it on hand, will be a good 
prevention. We must now keep our beds clear of weeds, and the wis- 
dom of having them narrow will be apparent, as we can weed them from 
one side without disturbing the brush. Here our seedlings must remain 
till two (2) years old; when, if they have done well, they will usually be 
from two (2) to eight (8) inches high, and ready for transplanting to the 
nursery. 

In the first fall, with one summer's growth, most varieties will be very 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 55 

small, having really only well made their appearance above ground ; and 
to prevent the frost, in the following spring from heaving them out, they 
must be covered with brush, or straw, or mats ; but take care that you 
do not make a harbor for mice. And to avoid this it would be better 
not to cover till nearly spring. In the first fall after the little seedlings 
have been transplanted to the nursery rows, the earth should be drawn 
about them, (early in the spring will do) so that the alternate freezing 
and thawing shall not heave them out. In the second summer they will 
not need shading, only keep them clean, and if the weather is dry, 
water as in the first season. (Propagating evergreens by any other 
method than seeds is impracticable for general use.) 

Now, having our ground prepared and the trees on hand, we proceed 
to plant them, about a foot apart in the rows, as carefully as we would so 
many cabbage plants — putting them in the ground as deeply as their 
size will permit, and if the ground is at all dry, watering them thus : — 
After planting and half filling the holes of a dozen or more with fine 
dirt, go back and pour water enough into each hole to completely soak 
the ground about the roots; then, when the water all soaks away, fill up 
with dry, fine earth, and thus continue to do till all are planted. 

Never water on the surface as this bakes the ground. Having now 
planted all our trees, we have nothing more to do but to keep them clean 
with hoe and cultivator, as we should keep so many rows of corn, till 
harvest time, when they may be let alone till fall, when they should be 
weeded again. We never mulch small trees, when we have them in rows 
so that they can be cultivated, tvithout the soil is very sandy, and then 
only in an excessively dry time. 

We have now established a nursery from which to draw, fi-om year to 
year, as we may need them to set about the house and barn, or to sell to 
our neighbors — remembering that we must leave enough for our wind- 
break, and that for this purpose, they should be all of one variety; that 
is, that each wind-break should be of one kind of trees, as two or more 
kinds do not look well, even if they should grow as well, which they 
will not. They should be about five feet apart in the rows for the larger 
growing kinds and four for the smaller, and stand thus : — .•.•.■.■ 
zigzag, like a worm fence. In transplanting larger specimens to the lawn 
or grounds greater care must be taken to preserve as many roots as may 
be, and if possible, to take up a good bail of earth with each one ; and 
also if the roots seem to be few, shortening the branches as we would 
those of any other trees, except in the case of those trees (like the pines) 
which grow only from the ends of the branches. Here we must not cut 
the top tier of branches, nor the main leader. Large trees should have 
large holes, and be well watered — the same as our small trees — and well 
mulched with rotten stable manure, as in this case mulching will be much 
better than cultivation. If the position is exposed to the wind a good 
plan is to stay the tree with three small wires, one end of each fastened 
to the body of it with a leather strap, or some other soft material, which 
will not injure the bark, and fasten the other ends to the ground with 
pegs, for a year or two, till the roots have firmly taken hold. 

Trees of almost any size, can be successfully transplanted, if the nec- 
essary time and care be taken, but such trees are very costly, and would 
be entirely unavailable. 

For the general planter, and, where fine specimens are to be the result, 
the small ones will be far the best, every time, even if there is no differ- 
ence in the cost. 



56 FOREST TiElEE JPLAJ^TERs" MANUAL. 

For a forest, the trees can be as large as you desire to handle, as the 
object here, is to grow a straight, tall, trunk, and not side branches, as is 
th,e/case in our ornamental trees and wind-breaks, and they should be 
set in check-rows, about four feet apart each way, so that they can be 
cultivated with horse-power, like corn, and when they grow to such size, 
that it is no longer possible to cultivate them, we can remove every other 
tree, leaving them quincunx ; and when they again become too thick, 
lake out the centre one of each five, when they will be eight feet apart 
each way, and will be about right for our permanent forest. 

Political economists now assure us, that the limit of the wooden, age, 
shall have been reached in about fifty years, if there is not something 
done to arrest the rapid destruction of our forests, generally, and more 
especially, of our pine forests, whose products enter so largely into the 
construction of almost everything in the country. In fact, afi'ect almost 
all industries directly, or indirectly. We can not see any plan by which 
this necessary destruction can be stopped ; nor would it be, desirable, so 
long, as on this very destruction depends the welfare of so many of our 
population. Of the unnecessary waste' of these products, it is not in our 
province, now to speak ; but, we would urge Upon Congress, to take some 
.effective measures to forestall the consequences of this waste ,, and de- 
struction, by offering a premium, if need be, to every land-owner in the 
Union, whose soil and climate will be suitable for growing , pine, timber ; 
not only in the new, but in the older States as well, and thus, if not put 
off till the end shall have really come, the supplies can be kept up, ad 
infinitum. Some of the older people of the world have thus kept up their 
supplies, and why not us ? If the Government can not see this, let 
every individual, who has the welfare of his country at heart, do what, 
in him lies, to promote this good cause ; and, as there is nothing in the 
world that succeeds like success, every pine tree seen flourishing on our 
prairies, will be a sure incentive to some one to go and plant another ; 
and, thus, as the perfectly simple conditions of success begins to be un- 
!derstood, there will be no trouble to induce people to plant evergreens. 

Let no one be deterred from planting aii evergi;een forest, by the fear, 
that they will grow too slow. The native pine here, has grown forty 
feet in twenty-five years; and, with good cultivation, the same variety has 
grown much faster, even than this ; so that, if the fitst settlers had planted 
pine forests, they could now be cutting all the smaller timbers for the 
large barns which they are building at this time, and, for which, the 
timber comes long distances by river and rail. 

In planting a small trench, should be made as deep as you wish to 
plant the cutting. Place the cutting in it, draw over it an inch or more 
of earth, then press firmly with the foot, after which, fill the trench level 
with mellow earth, and you have a cutting planted, that will, most 
surely, grow rapidly. 

AFTER CARE. 

Having brought our trees through the first season all right, we are apt 
to congratulate ourselves that our work is done. On the contrary, here 
is just where many planters suffer shipwreck. Now is just the time to 
make, or mar, the beatuy of our trees, if we wish them to be what ever- 
greens ought to be, with Ijranches sweeping tlie ground, in all the lux- 
uriance of full foliage. In order to attain to this perfection of form and 
foliage, it is necessary to keep down every vestige of weeds and gras^, 
while the tree is making its new growth; as tlie young shoots are then 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 57 

very tender, and those in contact with the grass will be smothered. 
This can best be attained by thorough cultivation, where we have them 
in rows. After a tree has attained its annual growth, say about the 
fourth of July, it will be able to take care of itself; yet, if time can be 
had, it will be well to keep all grass and weeds away from it always. 
For trees on the lawn, which are not yet large, a good plan is to invert 
the sod with the spade, to the depth of three or four inches, each spring, 
say in May, six inches to a foot outside the lower limbs. This keeps 
the ground mellow, and also, for a time, kills the grass ; but this plan 
will only be allowable in good, rich soil, and will not do at all in sand. 
Here we must mulch with good, rotten stable manure, and to get the full 
benefit of it, the operation should be performed every fall, and if too 
.much material should accumulate, scrape away the old before applying 
the new. And this mulching is not understood as it should be. We 
.must not pile up little conical heaps of stuff about the stem, but spread 
it out beyond the lower branches, six inches or a foot, quite thickly on 
the outside, and growing thinner as it approaches the centre, where it is 
not necessary to have anything, as the foliage itself will keep that part 
of the earth moist; and thus we have a kind of reservoir, in the middle 
of which is the tree, and which will retain the moisture which falls on 
the, branches. In this way we keep the soil rich and loose for the small 
rootlets, which will always be found to extend further out from the trunk 
than the branches, and of course these must be fed, if we wish the tree 
to prosper. 

After lawn trees, in good soil, have grown to large size, say twenty 
feet and upwards, it is only necessary to attend very carefully to keep- 
ing down the grass ; mowing once in ten days till the tree has attained 
its annual growth, which will be, as before stated, about the fourth of 
July. If the soil is poor and the tree does not seem to do well, a good 
plan is to mulch heavily with good, rich manure, in the fall, and remove 
again in the spring, after the rains shall have washed the substance of it 
into the ground. Neglecting to attend to these things will assuredly, in 
time, cause the lower branches of most varieties to die out, and thus 
give us a poor scrubby-looking specimen, only fit for the wood pile. 

Having attended to the foregoing suggestions, which are not mere 
theories, but have been deduced from actual experiments, no one need 
fail. Only have faith enough in your work, and in yourself, to go about 
it as you would any other thing in which you desired to succeed, and 
you will not fail; and at the return of spring you will rejoice to see your 
■beautiful trees put forth their delicate young foliage, and continue to do 
so, year by year, until they shall have attained to such magnificent pro- 
portions that you will have more pride and gratification in leaving these 
as a heritage to your children than you will in all the broad and fertile 
acres which you may have acquired in a long and successful life. 

Not only will their graceful foliage gladden your eyes and cheer your 
heart in the spring time, when all nature re-awakes to a renewed activ- 
ity, but they will cheer you in the autumn, when all else is in the sear 
and yellow leaf; and they will be with you in their shining green all the 
cold and sombre winter long, to keep away the howling storm and 
'brighten up your now beautiful prairie home, as nothing else in inani- 
mate nature can : and all the year through, their resinous juices will fill 
the air about you with health-giving odors, so that, when at length, in 
the fullness of time, you shall pass away from earth and your children 
shall succeed you, and their children, in turn, shall come upon the scene, 



5S t'otiEst TREE Planters' manual. 

generation after generation shall rise up and call you blessed, for having 

given them such a beautiful heritage. .. t» x^ 

- John K. Kepner. 

Little Valley, Minn., March 1, 1878. 

The following unusually instructive and every way valuable paper, 
from Mr. J. H. Brown, of Lac Qui Parle, Minn., prepared expressly for 
the Minnesota State Forestry Association, present so many important 
features in tree planting as to commend it to all who have any interest 
in "conquering the jDrairies." Mr. Brown was one of the early settlers of 
Northern Illinois — then again an early settler of Olmsted Co., Minn., and 
again one of the pioneers of civilization on our western borders ; a good 
type of the class of men who cause the wilderness "to blossom as the 
rose"; — and now in his old age is successfully battling against, and grad- 
ually overcoming all the privitations and hardships incident to the set- 
tlement of a new country, — building up a beautiful and attractive home 
— rearing to himself an arboreal monument, more enduring than mar- 
ble, and setting an example all may profitably emulate. His young plan- 
tation so successfully prosecuted, is already the most noticeable feature of 
the Upper Minnesota Valley, and is the admiration of every passing 
traveler. His views in regard to close forest planting, are commended 
to the consideration of the '"carping critics." "The proof of the pudding 
is in the chewing of thebag-strings:" 

Lac qui Parle, Dec. 25, 1878. 
Mr. L. B. Plodges, Dear Sir : — 

You wrote me that you wished me to write up my experience on for- 
est tree growing. You said that you wanted it to read at the meeting of 
the State Forestry Association. 1 feel thankful to you for the kind in- 
vitation. I am fearful, however, that you will be dissappointed in con- 
sequence of expecting more from me than I can give to your asssociation; 
for you doubtless, have men in your association, who are far more com- 
petent to instruct in your deliberations than I am. But since you wish 
it, I will try to give a few thoughts on the planting and growing of forest 
trees, on these treeless prairies. In order to make a success in growing 
trees, we must be thorough in the preparing of the land before the trees 
are planted, and after they are planted, thev need to be well cultivated 
until they are large enough to take care of themselves, and unless this 
is done, it is of but little use to think of growing a forest. The land 
should be prepared and cultivated in the same manner that a thorough 
farmer prepares and cultivates his land for corn. I have had very good 
success with trees j^lanted the next spring after the land was broken, but 
it requires much more labor. It is better to sow the wheat one year, the 
sod then will be quite well rotted and the trees will grow faster. 

It is quite useless however, to dwell long on the preparing and culti- 
vating the land, if a man generally does his farm work well, he will be 
quite likely to treat his trees the same way ; and the result will be a grand 
success, but on the other hand, if the man is in the habit of doing his 
work slovenly, he will treat his trees in the same way, and the result will 
be a miserable failure. As regards to the best kinds of timber to plant on 
these prairies, I think cottonwood the most preferable it grows more 
rapidly than any other tree; next that is the soft maple. After having planted 
a liberal amount of these two kinds, I should phmt the white ash, which 
when grown is the most valuable of any variety of timber we have here, 
and I regard these three vai'ieties the only kinds we have here that is 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS* MANUAL. 59 

worthy of forestry cultivation. But for early , wind-break, or shelter from 
the wind and early fuel timber, the cottonwood should have the first at- 
tention. Its timber makes very good fuel, especially when dry. The 
white willow as a single row, if we wish to grow a live fence is the only 
tree plant we have here, or get, that will answer that purpose, but I hope 
to see something better introduced for that purpose. I have, however, 
planted nearly two miles of it on my farm, and had not the hoppers kept 
eating it ofi' for the three years it would have made a satisfactory growth, 
but they kept it back very much, they likewise clipped the outer limbs 
of the cottonwood, but not as much as the willow. I have used 
mostly cottonwood in planting my groves, and for the most part I have 
planted seedlings of one and two years growth ; some seasons they are 
quite plenty here, and some seasons there are but few, which was the 
case last fall, the seeds fall from the trees from the first of June to July. 
They fall on the water of the rivers and other places of water, they catch 
on the shores and sandbars, and grow up the same season four to twelve 
inches. I have used such plants for the most of my tree planting. But 
some seasons that class of little trees are quite scarce here, and in that 
case we resort to cuttings. I have sometimes had very good success with 
them, and at other time^ they have been almost a total failure with me. 
I have heard man}^ men speak of like results, that is when they are pre- 
pared and stuck in the earth the usual way of doing. I have found by 
experimenting that cuttings may be prepared and planted in such man- 
ner that they will be almost sure to grow and do well, at least they 
have proved a perfect success with me so far as I have tried them. I 
take the limbs from the tree and cut them about six inches in length, 
leaving one small side limb as nearly as may be in the middle of this 
cutting, cut this back to the length of five or six inches. Plant this cut- 
ting flat in the ground, say about three inches deep, leaving the end of 
the side limb two or three inches above ground. 

It is a matter of no small importance to us to .., .^".^T.?..... 

know how best to arrange our Ibrest trees, so as Hi 

to have them both ornamental and useful. I :il jlj 

have here drawn a small plat of a farm, of one HI iH 

hundred and sixty acres. I thought, when I H: 
planted the trees, that they were quite well \\\ \\\ 

arranged. But, perhaps, some of you can sug- HI III 

gest a better plan. If so, please send us a Hi III 

specimen, and we will be glad to see it. This HI HI 

sketch represents a farm, as it now is; and, I HI 
think, any one who carefully looks at this draw- il].-:::;:;;;;:;:;:;:::;;.-.HI.... 
ing, would, if they should chance to pass by south 

this farm, see at once, that it is a fair specimen of the real appearance. 
You will perceive, that these several belts of trees are in the aggregate, 
nearly three miles in length. There are, not less than fourteen acres of 
land in them. The outside row of all the lines of trees is thickly set 
with willows. These are intended for line fence. On the south and east 
side, there are only two rows of shade trees planted, as dots indicate. 
The south-east corner represents house and barn grounds. The open 
ground a little to the west, contains four acres of land. I have planted 
nearly all kinds of trees on those grounds. There are public highways 
on all sides of this farm, save on the north. We think it quite a nice 
drive around this farm ; the trees standing, for the most part, about six- 
teen feet high. The forest-belts are planted in rows four feet apart, and 



GO foUEST TREE rLANTERs' MANUAL. 

from two to four foot in the rows. This may seem to some to be quite 
too close ; but, by so doing they will grow tall and straight with but few 
side-branches ; and in a few years after planting they will admit of 
being thinned one-half, and those left will be worth more than if 
planted farther aj)art at first, and the thinnings will make a large 
amount of fuel to the acre. If we would grow tall, straight, forest-trees, 
we must have them quite near together when small. If too far apart, 
then they will take tne form of shade trees, having short trunks and 
wide-spreading toj)S, which are not desirable for a valuable forest of tim- 
ber. Trees planted twelve feet apart, as some are doing, will never make 
a valuable forest. And when would we begin to thin it, in consequence 
of its becoming too close on the ground ? I should not look for that 
time to come in my day ; for, when we cut one tree we have a space of 
twenty-four feet. If Ave plant closely, we will have an annual return for 
our labor a number of years before we would think of cutting a tree, if 
we had planted twelve foot apart, and the trees still left, will be of far 
more value. They will not be mere shade trees, having short trunks. 
They will be tall, straight trees, useful for any purpose. There is 
another benefit derived from close planting, for, if well cultivated, in two 
years they will take care of themselves. But, if planted twelve foot, 
■we may keep on cultivating, at least five years, and then we have but 
little value. To grow white ash, I find, by my experience, that it should 
stand very close while young, if we make a success in growing it on the 
prairie ; and it is best to plant the seeds where you wish them to remain. 
i think eight inches is far enough apart in the rows. That will cause 
them to grow tall and slender, with but few side-branches. If left too 
far -apart, they grow quite scraggy. I have ash eight foot tall four years 
after planting seeds. It is better to plant in the tall. Some men in this 
locality are planting ash-leafed ma^jle in their groves. It grows quite 
fast, but is rather short lived, and does not grow to a large size ; but, 
when planted alone, it makes a beautiful shade tree. I have used them 
quite liberally for that purpose. It is the first tree that looks green in 
tne s]3ring, and is a very ornamental tree. I have none in my forest- 
planting regarding it, of less value for that purpose, than most other 
varieties. We have been very much annoyed in this locality by the hop- 
pers. They bite nearly everything they light on; they have entirely 
destroyed very many small trees. I planted a nursery of about ten 
thousand small cottonwood seedling trees, intending them for transplant- 
ing. They looked very promising, until late in June, when the hoppers 
took possession of the ground, destroying all but about fourteen hun- 
dred. They also injured the larger trees very much for the last three 
years. Therefore, their annual growth has been much less than it would 
nave been. But, yet, the growth has been quite satisfactory. I think 
the cottonwood has made an annual growth of four feet. The maples, 
two lo three feet, and the ash, still less. We had, also, a beetle, or June 
bug, here last season, which worked on the ash, nearly destroying the 
entire growth for the season. The young twigs were eaten off and started 
again tnree successive times. The bugs leaving about the last of June. 
Tney sprouted again, but it was so late that the growth was but little. 
I have seen the same bug before, but never in sucU great numbers, and 
never so destructive. The maple, likewise, has nearly all been cut ofi" 
when quite small, several years in this locality. Some years they are 
not touched. Five years ago, I planted quite a large quantity of seeds 
for a nursery of trees. They came up very nicely, and had about eighty 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 61 

thousand of them. When they were nicely above ground, they began to 
disappear, and in the fall, I had only fi-v e or six thousand ; I called the 
destroyer a cut- worm. We all well know that we are liable to meet 
with disappointments in any enterprise we may engage in ; and, forestry- 
growing is not an exception to the general rule. Notwithstanding these 
disappointments, I have continued to plant a few trees, and the result 
is quite satisfactory. The theory that forest-trees could not be grown 
on the open prairie, is now proven to be false ; and that of itself, is a 
long stride towards the treeing of treeless lands. 

I well remember, that only six years ago this winter, when the wind 
would be blowing with all its violence, brina;ing the loose snow from 
twenty miles west, and northward of us, piling it up in huge drifts 
around like buildings, and at times, making it unsafe to step out doors I 
then, at times, being seated around a well-heated stove, talked about 
planting trees under the protection of which, we could build our houses 
and barns, and be protected from the wind. Some of my boarders 
would, at times, jokingly remark, that around this warm stove in a cold, 
wintry day, was a ver}'' good time and place to grow such nice forests ; 
they not believing that it could be done in our day. Since then, I heard 
the same persons express thair fullest belief of the sure and early pro- 
tection from wind and snow, by planting trees. And such is the case 
with thousands of men all over the western States. And now, that men 
have faith in tree-growing, we may look for forests to spring up all over 
this treeless west. I have observed, that some persons make a fatal mis- 
take in planting a grove around their buildings ; they plant a. few trees 
quite near their buildings, and think they have done a very good thing. 
Well, they have, so far as it goes. But, if they go no farther they will, 
some day, see that it is not so good after all. This small grove will break 
the wind and stop the snow ; but the snow will be stopped and piled up 
just where they don't want it. Their door-yards and barn-yards will 
become filled with snow ; or, in other words, they will have no yards 
visible, and will be quite likely to find themselves wishing that they 
had not planted any trees. Below, you will see a sketch of ten acres of 
land, on which is designed to represent ten acres on any homestead-claim 
in the south-west part of the county. When I planned and arranged 
the ten acres, as before shown on my farm, at Lac qui Parle, I find that 
I made in that one mistake, at least. You will observe, that on the north 
and west sides of this sketch, I have planted three rows of trees, one 
of willow, and two of cottonwood. 

This narrow belt will cause the snow to pile up on :::::::::^°^^::::::::::::::::::::: 

the south of the north belt, and on the east of the \\ 

west belt. The snow always being blown from the ;; | 

north-west in our severe storms. I have then left 1 1 10:;;;;:;;;;;?;;;;;;;;;;::;;:;:;;;::: 

within these outer south lines, several rods in width \\ 

of unplanted land. This open space I call the \\ W'Ml 

snow line ; and within this snow-line, I have planted H \ 

the main grove, designed to protect my building 1 1 iii hous^ I 

grounds. The south-east part not closely planted, jl ; 

is designed for house, barn, barn-lot, garden, and \\ \\\ \ 

fruit grounds. A plantation arranged after this south 

plan will avoid the main grove being piled full of, and broken down by 
the snow. This ten acre plat may be located on any part of the farm 
you please to choose. This plat of land is on my homestead claim, 
which is located about twenty miles from Lac qui Parle, and nine miles 



62 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

north-east of Canby. There are a large number of groves planted in the 
county. I noticed when passing over some parts of this county last 
September, one place where I saw, at least, ten of these artificial groves 
at one view, showing their dark-green lines above the rolling prairie. 

I hear many talking about planting trees next spring ; and man}'- more 
will yearly be induced to plant groves, when they see their neighbors 
trees grow so nicely. And at no distant clay, this so-called treeless 
country will become the pleasant abode of intelligent and civilized man. 

I wish, here, to take the liberty to correct a mistake, made by some 
one in regard to the amount of natural forest-timber in the country. I 
have seen it stated in the reports pertaining to timbered lands in the 
western part of our State, that the county of Lac qui Parle, has only two 
hundred acres. This is quite far from, being correct. Those who best 
know how much there is, say there are, at least, twenty-two hundred 
acres. Please correct this report when opportunities present. 

We shall expect you will use your utmost endeavor to induce Congress 
to amend the tree-claim act. Bringing down, where the man of small 
means may avail himself of its benefits, and causing him to grow a 
closely-set and useful forest, with complete success, instead of an attempt 
to grow forty acres of shade trees, (for it will be nothing more for a long 
time,) and make a sad failure, losing his claim, labor, and all. For no 
poor man can support a family, open up his farm, and grow forty acres 
of timber at the same time. This class of men are the only men who 
will undertake to do it ; the wealthy are not apt to bind themselves to 
hold a piece of land eight years, before they can procure title. The pre- 
mium acts of seventy-one and seventy-three, passed by our State Legis- 
lature, were very good to encourage growing forest-trees. But the life of 
those two acts was five years, in which to plant groves to obtain the pre- 
miums. We here think, that those acts ought to be re-enacted ; and if 
you think so, we cordially invite you to use your co-operative influence 
to induce our legislature to renew those acts this winter, and have them 
run indefinitely as to time, when they may be repealed,wiien they become 
inoperative. I would suggest, however, that no premiums be awarded 
for trees planted in the future, unless they are planted so closely together 
that they will insure a dense forest. 

We can afibrd to be taxed for the growing of properly planted and 
well cultivated forests. But, a forest of trees planted sixteen feet apart, 
as the other State acts indicated, is too far apart, — " too thin,^^ to be worthy 
of the imposing of taxes on the people of the State for their support. 
Perhaps, I have not been so particular in my remarks about close plant- 
ing, as I might have been. I will say a few words more about that part 
of the work. It is of much importance in planting closely, to have the 
trees of uniform size, and strength of growth, else the stronger will kill 
the weaker, before they become large enough to be of value for fuel, or 
other uses. If we plant a large tree, and then a small, and again a large 
one, as Ave are quite likely to do, if we don't know any better, the larger 
trees will soon spread their branches over the tops of the smaller trees, 
which will entirely stop the growing any farther of the smaller trees, and 
they might about as well be left out. So long as a tree can keep its head 
up in the sun, it will continue to reach up still higher. Therefore, it is 
better that we assort the trees before planting. Wlien we get a large 
amount of trees ready for planting, they will usually be made up of 
various sizes. We should assort them in three parts, putting the largest 
by themselves, and again, the next largest, and lastly, the smallest by 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 63 

themselves. Plant these three divisions as much as may be by them- 
selves; you will then have planted them so as to cause a uniform growth- 
If we observe these rules in our forestry-planting, we may plant quite 
closely and every tree will grow large enough to be of value before they 
will require thinning. I should be happy to meet with you in your de- 
liberations for the encouraging of forest-tree growing. I have noticed 
with much pleasure, the success attending your most worthy efforts for 
the promotion of a cause, which, if properly carried forward, will greatly 
help to encourage tree-planting in all the treeless portion of our State. 
And, it must be apparent to all, that the entire State will receive more or 
less benefit by your efforts. It is highly gratifying to witness what a great 
change has taken place in the minds of the masses in a few years. 

Six years ago, I one day went to the • timber and got a back-load of 
sprouts, and brought them up to the house. A little time after, I went in 
the store, and one of my neighbours asked me what I intended doing 
with those brush he saw me carrying. I told him I was going to cut 
them in pieces and stick them in the ground, and grow me a forest of 
timber for fuel, and other purposes. He, not believing that these brush 
would grow to trees of value and usefulness in our day, iii quite a solemn 
manner, remarked, that some of us would need a wooden jacket_ before 
we could grow trees large enough to do us any good. Neither him nor 
I have yet needed a wooden jacket. I have some splendid trees from 
the brush, but he has not commenced planting yet. He told me last 
week that if he could have believed that the trees could be made to 
grow as mine had, he would have had a grove likewise. This man was 
not alone in his unbelief. To-day, men do not believe that forests can be 
grown, and thousands will act according to their faith in the good work. 
The time is not far in the future, when I believe this county will be all 
dotted over with groves of forest trees. 

Before I close, I again invite you to use your utmost influence in be- 
half of the tree-claim-act, the State premium acts, and any and every 
thing you can for the benefit of the treeless portion. We are wofully 
poor, financially. The grasshoppers, for three years past, have used us 
without mercy, and we greatly need the almighty dollar. But, I must 
close, hoping this will do you no harm, if it should do you no good. 
This -is from an obscure and humble frontiersman. 

J. H. BROWN. 

The Beech — Fagus Sylvatica. 

In all^my rambles over Minnesota I have never yet encountered a reg- 
ular old fashioned beech tree — such as are common east of Lake Michi- 
gan. The water beech is indigenous and common along the river bot- 
toms of Minnesota, but of too little value to talk much about. There is 
a tradition of a large beech tree standing, or formerly standing, some- 
where near the banks of the Mississippi between Hastings and Red 
Wing, that the Indians held in great reverence, and performed many 
a sacred " pow-wow " under its umbrageous shade. 

Whoever succeeds in growing a beech forest in Minnesota, will have, 
certainly, the poor consolation of knowing that his life has not been al- 
together a failure. It is more than probable that his name would be 
honorably enrolled high up in the annals of forestry. I would not view 
the attempt to grow a beech forest in Minnesota as Utopian in any sense. 
Our climate and soil are both good enough, and I do not yet see any 
insurmountable obstacles to overcome. 



64 FOKEST TKEE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

It is true that the attempts in this direction so far, are not encouraging, 
"but if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Try it on after your 
young forests have so far developed as to afford a good shade to the 
young plant. Plant the beechnuts soon after they have dropped, and 
while yet perfectly fresh and sweet, and cover lightly. 

There is no use in planting eastern grown beech trees on the open 
prairie ; I do not say they will all die within six months, but I do say the 
blazing sun and drying winds make it mighty tough for them. They 
need the protection a partially developed forest would naturally give, 
and with such protection success is possible. ,,•;,- 

Bryant says : " The beech is one of the loftiest trees of the American 
forests, sometimes reaching the height of one hundred feet. It occupies 
a wide range of latitude, being found from Canada to the Gulf of Mex- 
ico. It is a stranger to the prairies of Illinois and Iowa. It grows to 
the greatest size in deep, moist soils. * * * The roots of the beech 
run near the surface of the soil, and often appear above it. If the trees 
are felled in winter, they send up a great number of sprouts, so that a 
beech forest is easily renewed. * * * * The beech cannot be 
recommended as one of the most profitable trees for forest culture, 
nevertheless, it is worthy the attention of those who plant on a large 
scale. 

From Hough's report, page 72, we find the following, which I deem 
useful in this connection : 

The Beech {Fagus sylvatica) is the only hard wood by nature admirably suited 
for growth in unmixed forests. Its leaves, rich in potash, decay easily, and form 
an excellent humus. In high-timber forests, it finds its proper place, growing 
best where the foliage forms an almost unbroken roof, which hinders the sun 
from drying the soil. Its period is usually 100 to 120 years, being longer on poor 
soils. It is not suited for coppice, because its power of sending up shoots from 
the stool is not great, and their growth is slow; but in lime soiiS this power is 
greater. It occurs as coppice under standards where the latter throw much shade 
on the underw ood, or where, as in the case of oak standards, the ground should 
be well shaded from the sun. On lime, and the milder clay soils, it thrives as 
standards, but it then overshadows more than any other tree. Its wood is usually 
worth less than other hard woods in the market. The beech requires a strong min- 
eral soil, fresh and rich in humus. It is often found with the oak on sandy, loamy 
deposits, if not too dry or too moist; but on poorer and lighter soils, or in exposed 
places, it grows slowly, and the soil becomes impoverished. The true honie of 
the beech is on lime, basalt, and greenstone, if the soil is not too thin. This par- 
tiality for lime is shown in the smoothness of bark, the straightness of trunks, and 
their freedom from branches ; the annual growth is great, and reproduction by 
natural means easy. In fresh, sheltered places on lime, the beech bears seeds 
early, (beginning about the seventeenth or nineteenth year), and continues to do 
so at intervals of three to five years, and in abundance. 

The Chestnut, (Castenea). — I do not propose to recommend this tree 
for the prairie. More than twenty years of unsuccessful experimenting 
have proved its unfitness. During a succession of unusually mild win- 
ters it has escaped severe injury, but when we get 40° below zero, good- 
bye to him ! I am inclined to think the soil of our prairies is not just 
the thing for the chestnut, for 40° below zero among the mountains of 
northern New York, don't hurt it. I am informed that among the tim- 
bered bluffs, ravines and gulches of Allemakec Co., Iowa, and Houston 
Co., Minnesota, it has proved a success. In such localities I would try 
it on a small scale, but never out on the open prairie. 

Sop^T Maple, {Acer dasycarpum). — Not a bad tree for the prairie; nor 
as good as many of its friends claim. Closely planted in groves, it is well 
worth cultivating. It is a rapid grower, generally healthy and hardy. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 65 

Found in its native state on nearly all the river bottoms. Well culti- 
vated, it produces a large amount of very good fuel in a very few years. 
It pays well to manure this tree. 

For isolated shade trees, although very beautiful, they are not to be 
depended on, as they are pretty sure to split down, from the pressure of 
strong winds about the time you begin to think you have something to 
be proud of. Notwithstanding this serious objection, lots of fellows 
will keep right on, all the same, transplanting them from the river bot- 
toms to their door-yards To all such let me say, donH cut the tops off. 
If necessary to trim up to bare poles, do so, but always leave the leader 
as nature made it. By so doing your tree is not half so liable to split 
down. The young nursery trees should be kept well trimmed, the lat- 
eral branches never to be allowed to get any start. 

The seed ripens in Minnesota last of May or first of June. Should be 
picked from the tree as soon as the seeds begin to fall, and should be 
sown as soon thereafter as possible. The sooner the better. On clean, 
new ground I have seen them do remarkably well, sown broadcast and 
very thick. 

They are usually planted in drills and covered about one inch deep ; 
should the ground be dry, roll it or tramp it down. The seed will sprout 
and the plants will appear about as quick as corn. When the young 
plants first show themselves, shade thoroughly, or the sun will be pretty 
sure to burn them off. Then cultivate frequently till harvest time and they 
will grow from 8 to 18 inches the first season, and are suitable for trans- 
planting the next spring. 

BOX ELDER, ASH-LEAVED MAPLE.— (^cer negunda). 

A good tree for the prairie; "in favorable situations, becomes a stately 
tree, reaching the bight of 50 or 60 feet." It is very hardy, growing as far 
north as 54°. The finest specimens of this tree I have yet seen, are to be 
found in the valley of the Red River of the North. In rich, moist soil, 
its growth is surprisingly rapid, discounting the soft maple two to one. 
In very dry soil it is short lived ; it yields a wonderful flow of sap, from 
which sugar can be made. The quality of the wood is similar to the soft 
maple. 

As an ornamental tree, its dense, beautiful green foilage, (and if it has 
room to spread itself) its round, symetrical top renders it an object of ad- 
miration. The seed ripens in the fall and should be sown soon after. 
I have carried them over till the next spring and then sown, but have al- 
ways had better results from fall sowing; cover the seed lightly and with 
frequent and clean culture, you soon get lots of good trees. 

I believe I have now briefly touched upon all, or nearly all the desir- 
able forest trees for our Minnesota prairies. It is not the object, nor is it 
within the scope of this little work to treat upon all the forest trees of 
America. To such persons as may be disappointed in not finding in this 
work a greater range of information, I would respectfully recommend to 
their persual the works of Bryant, Gray, Warder, Fuller, Michaux, Eve- 
lyn, Berenger, Burgsdorf, Brown, and other eminent authorities. I shall 
now proceed to gather and arrange such items of practical value and in- 
terest, as may seem calculated to promote forestry in Minnesota. 

Prof. William H. Brewer, of Yale College, in an article published in Walker's 
Statistical Atlas, estimates the number of species of woody plants in the United 
States at 800. Of these, upward of 300 indigenous species attain the height of 30 
feet, of which 251 are abundant sonaewhere, or at least, not rare. In this he 

5 



66 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

excluded all smaller trees that never attain a height of 50 feet, and the tropical 
species found on the extreme southern border. Of large trees somewhat abun- 
dant, hee stimates 120 species, of which 20 grow 100 feet; twelve, 200, and perhaps 
five or six 300 feet in height, or upward. Of these 120, about fiftj^ belong to the 
coniferte. Only a very few species occur across the whole country, from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific. Of these, the aspen (Populus tremuloides) and some of 
the cottonwoods are mentioned ; but as a rule, there is a marked contrast be- 
tween the forest regions east and west of the treeless belt, the timber of the Rocky 
Mountains belonging to the western rather than the eastern type. New England, 
originally all wooded, has 80 to 85 species, of which about 60 grow to a height of 
50 feet. The Middle States, also originally wooded, have 100 to 105 species, of 
which 65 to 67 sometimes reach a height of 50 feet. The southeastern part, also 
entirely wooded, has over 130 species, 75 of which grow 50 feet or more, and per- 
haps a dozen, 100 feet. The southwestern region was characterized by dense for- 
ests and open plains, and numbers 112 to 118 species, of which 60 to 75 grew to 
50 feet. The northwestern region is diversified by prairies, " openings," forest, 
(some of great extent and density), and timber belts along the rivers and streams. 
It contains 105 to 110 species, about 68 to 70 of which grow to 50 feet. 

Professor Newberry, in his Geological Survey of Ohio (i. 529), notices several 
instances of this relation between rock formations and timber growth. The 
Cuyahoga shales, rich in potash, bear a growth of large elms, scattered over this 
plateau as far as the eye can reach ; beech and maples, with thick groves of chest- 
nut where the broken rock comes near the surface, mark the horizon of the con- 
glomerate, and above this a belt of forests, in which the predominate timber is 
oak, defines with great accuracy the limits of the coal-measures in the northern 
part of Ohio. The redwood of California is limited to a peculiar sandstone forma- 
tion, and the noble red cedars of Tennessee to the Glade Limestone, a subdivision 
of the Trenton Group, which extends superficially as a very irregular ring across 
the central part of the State. On subsequent pages we shall have frequent occa- 
sion to notice this dependence of forest growth upon the underlying geological 
formations, including, of course, the soils resulting from their decomposition. 
These peculiarities, when understood, afford valualble indications that may be 
followed with profit in attempting the cultivation of timber trees. 

SOWING AND PLANTING. 

BY DR. HOUGH. 

We shall endeavor to present in the following pages, such practical 
statement of methods and results of experience as appeared best calcu- 
lated to afford subjects of thought and suggestions for ex23eriment in 
tree-planting. The results obtained in one country may be different 
from those in another, but due allowance being made for circumstances, 
the principles of vegetable growth are everywhere alike, and a careful 
result of experience and observation acquire a permanent value. 

SHOULD WE SOW OR PLANT ?— EXPERIENCE OF EUROPEAN 

FORESTERS.* 

Most foresters nowadays resort to planting in preference to sowing in 
beginning new forests. Is this a fashion and mere caprice, or is it the 
fruit of experience and observation ? This question we will proceed to 
examine. Let us go back a hundred years or more. In 1756, the most 
distinguished German forester of that period, Johann Gottlieb Beck- 
mann, published a work entitled Experiments and Experiences upon the 
necessity of sowing Forest Trees. In this work he specified the method 
of sowing as alone capable of yielding good results, and as the proper 
means for regenerating a ruined forest. "What shall be said of the 

'•" Translated from an article by the Baron Manteuflfel, grand master of Forests in Saxony. "Kevtte 
Des Eaux et Foreis," 1, 147. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 67 

method of planting?" he asks; and to this the reply is short and deci- 
sive, " It is not a good way, and as to resinous species, it is impracti- 
cable."* 

Had foresters been satisfied with this positive declaration, there would 
have been no question as to planting within the last hundred years, 
but this has not happened, and they have been compelled to have 
recourse to planting oftener than they wished, perhaps as they regarded 
it, to complete and replace their sowing. They were led to observe that 
the ancient process of planting left much to be desired, and that it was 
susceptible of great improvement, while, on the other hand, they found 
many soils to be covered in which sowing afforded but slender chance of 
success. Little by little they gave more attention to the system of 
planting, and had oftener recourse to this method, so that fifty years 
after the publication of Beckmann's book, to-wit, 1805, Burgsclorf thus 
expressed himself in his Treatise upon Forests, in the chapter upon 
forest plantations : " Besides the kinds above mentioned that ma}^ be 
planted on a large scale, it is a principle that others may be planted, but 
only on a small scale ; in all cases depending upon success only where 
the conditions are favorable." He seems to have understood these "cer- 
tain rules," and " favorable conditions," and explained them ; but in 
this it was a sad thing for sylviculture, they tainted the precepts of the 
master. 

It would require much time to do full justice to the system of planta- 
tion, and in proof of this the elder Cotta, somie twentj^-five years ago, 
remarked : "As the establishment of forest growths on a large scale is 
easier to do by sowing than by planting, &c., * * * we deem it con- 
venient to give preference to the former of these methods." An exam- 
ination of the modifications wrought both in theory and in practice 
since these principles were laid down would lead us much too far, and, 
in our day, progress is more rapid, and science travels further in twenty 
years than formerly in a century. We will only remark, that the old 
rule which prescribed that ive should plant only where there is no chance of 
success by sowing, has now in many countries, and especially in Saxony, 
given place to this, never to soio except ivhere it is impossible to planff In 
other words, planting is now the rule — sowing, the exception; just the 
reverse of what it formerly was. Experience has, in fact, demonstrated 
to the present generation of sylviculkirists that generally a forest 
growth can be established sooner, more surely, and in better condition, by 
planting ; sooner, because it starts at least two years earlier than one that 
is sown, and, furthermore, four or five years often elapse before it is pos- 
itively known whether a sowing is to be repaired or completed, while in 
plantations the very next year will show every plant that is unable to 
survive, and these can be at once replaced : — more surely and in better 
condition, because plantations are exposed to fewer casualties than seed- 
ling growths. The success of the latter depends in the first instance, 
upon the quality of the seeds. Now, as we are seldom so situated that 
we can harvest them ourselves, we must take them as offered in the mar- 
ket, at which are too often sold seeds gathered before they are ripe, or 
that are withered, or badly kept, or heated, or too old. But assuming 
the most favorable conditions, let us suppose that all the seeds we get 

♦"Chapter iv, § 13." 

fMessrs. Lorentz & Parade remark: "Sowing is considered by many foresters as principally 
applicable to large operations, because Its processes are more natural and simple, as well as cheaper 
than those of planting. But practice tends every day to establish the superiority of the latter." 
(_Cours Ehmentaire de Culture des Bois, 4th ed., p. 509.) 



68 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

are good, we still have cause to fear that the soil is not well prepared, 
the sowing not even, that the seed are covered too little or too much, or 
that too violent showers or persistent drought, too burning a sun, or a 
late frost may happen to destroy all our hopes ; but we will further sup- 
pose that the season has been as favorable for the coming up of the 
seeds as we could desire, and that the birds and the mice have scrupu- 
lously respected the tender plants, we shall be very much deceived if we 
suppose that everything is now secure ; but in fact, if the conditions 
have been propitious for the growth of forest seeds, they have been 
equally so for the growth of pernicious weeds ; so much so indeed, that 
we can scarcely find the little germs in the midst of the grass and herb- 
age by which they are covered and stifled. We may sometimes pull up 
these weeds, but at the risk of drawing up the young plants, but this 
does not always happen, and in this case the mice often find among the 
dried weeds under the snow, a refuge, the more attractive because it 
oflFers a shelter from the cold, and young plants at hand for food. When 
the spring comes to melt the snow, there is more sowing to be done, for 
everything is eaten up. If we succeed in keeping a sowing clean of 
weeds the first year, we have every reason to apprehend that in the next 
spring following we shall find the ground spread over with young plants 
that have been thrown out by the frost. Many other dangers await the 
seedling forest during the following years, but it would be needless to 
enumerate them. We have said enough to show that success in sowing 
is uncertain. 

Plantations are likewise liable to late frosts, the teeth of mice, and of 
various other accidents, but their existence is not endangered. In most 
cases these troubles do not occur after two or three, or at most, four years. 
The only real enemies to plantations are insects and their larvae, and it 
is not surprising that foresters now give preference to this system. 

Plantations become cheaper than seeding. Experienced foresters do not 
need facts to convince them upon this point. They know, in fact, that 
if the cost of first establishment is a little less in sowing than in plant- 
ing, especially if seeds are cheap, the expenses occasioned in caring for 
the work and of replanting gaps and vacant places is much greater for 
seeding, so that taking everything into account, the advantage is al- 
together on the side of planting. Be it far from us, however, to think 
that we should never have recourse to direct seeding. In sylviculture 
there are no absolute and universal rules. Thus, for example, we would 
never advise planting timber on the light sands of La Manche or Basse- 
Lusace, as we would always blame sowing on the strong-sodded but 
thin soils of Saxony. All we have to say as to this is, that as a general 
rule, and except in certain well-defined cases, such as those above men- 
tioned, planting should be the rule; sowing the exception. 

THE CONDITIONS MOST FAVORABLE FOR GROWING OF FOREST- 
SEEDS. 

That seeds may germinate, they must have a certain amount of con- 
tact with the air, and a proper degree of warmth and moisture. In the 
natural process of seeding but a very small number of the seeds so 
bountifully produced ever find these due proportions of congenial influ- 
ences, so as to take root and grow. It is only here and there that a seed 
gets lodged among the dead leaves and the mosses, or gets covered by 
the detritus, so as to secure the needed protection and a successful 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS* MANUAL. 69 

growth. If seeds are left too lightly covered they may be eaten by birds, 
or washed out by rains. If too deep, the young shoot will be entirely 
smothered, or will come slowly to the surface in too feeble condition for 
vigorous growth. 

V^ith the view of determining fixed rules from careful trial, a series 
of observations was made by Dr. Baur, director of the experimental sta- 
tion for forestral researches at Hohenheim, in Wurtemberg, in 1873, 
1874 and 1875, the principal results of which are given in the Revue des 
Eaux et Forets for June, 1876. The soil selected for these experiments 
was of average density. We can only state the general results : 

Beech. — Seeds should be but slightly covered. The best results were found 
when the covering was from 0.39 to 1.57 inches, and the best depth 0.79. This 
agrees quite nearly with the rule laid down by Burckhard, Heyer, and Lorentz 
and Parade. 

Qaercus pedunculata. — The acorns should be planted shallow, but a little deeper 
than beech-nuts. The depth should be more in light soils. Heyer recommends 
1 to 2 inches, and advises that they be sometimes covered by a plow. 

Acer campestre (English Maple). — The seeds should be but slightly covered, but 
little deeper than with beech. From 0.39 to 0.78 is unquestionably best, and 
beyond 2.75 inches they will not grow. The observer noticed the following 
appearances in the germination of the maple : They issue with very long cotyle- 
dons, and if deeply covered, or if the surface of the soil is too hard, these cannot 
easily break through the obstacle, yet continue to grow, and at length break, and 
thus the germ is lost We may thus see why many vacant places often occur in 
seed-beds of the maple. 

Acacia. — The results here observed were quite interesting, and agreed perfectly 
in the two years observed. When Stumpf ( Waldbau, 2d eel:, p. 276 J laid down the 
general rule that "large and heavy seeds should be more deeply covered," he 
should have excepted this kind. The results tend to show that depth has but 
very little influence, but that these seeds, however light, should be planted at 
least as deep as acorns. The result appears to lead to ttie conclusion that the 
acacia might be used with advantage in planting arid soils and southern slopes, 
where seeds thinly covered would scarely grow from want of moisture. 

Black Alder. — This should be but very slightly covered, a third of an inch being 
enough. Burckhard avises that it should be very slighlty covered, or even simply 
strewn upon the surface, and Heyer remarks that it should be mingled with the 
most superficial parts of the soil. The experiments of Dr, Baur gave the best 
results at 0.39 inch. From 0.59 to 0.98 the shoots were but few, and from greater 
depths but one seed came up. 

Cammon pine.— The results of two years showed that a covering of 0.39 to 0,59 
inch is the most advantageous. At greater dejjths the plants were scattered, and 
none grew from a depth of over 1.18 inches. 

Fir. — With this, as with the pine, the deeper seeds were slower in coming to 
the surface, and the general average for best results was the same. 

Silver Fir. —The best depth ranges between 0.39 and 0.77 inch, or a little more 
than in the case of the pine and fir. None appeared which had been covered 1.18 
or more inches. 

ATTENTION TO THE QUALITIES OF SEEDS.— GATHERING 

OF SEEDS. 

It is a universal law in nature, that certain qualities of excellence or 
defect, tend to transmission from parent to offspring. By virtue of this, 
the various choice breeds of domestic animals have been originated and 
improved. Our plants cultivated for culinary use, and ornamental plant- 
ing, have thus been multiplied in variety without number, and in qual- 
ity so greatly improved upon the native original, as scarcely to be recon- 
ized as of the same species. 

May we not from an analogy hope an equally good result in the growth 
and quality of timber, and of the fruits and other products of forest-trees? 



70' FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

Herein, although Ave have the disadvantage of a slow growth, and a life 
that often outlives a man's, we have the decided advantage of being able 
to hold and keep what we get, by the processes of budding and grafting, 
as we constantly see in our nurseries of ornamental trees, where striking 
peculiarities, often originating in nature, or from some accidental circum- 
stance, are perpetuated and multiplied without limit. 

But starting with the seed, it is obviously of first importance that it be 
of the best quality ; — not the first that falls, because as in fruits, it may 
have ripened prematurely from injuries done by insects ;^not from stint- 
ed and dwarfish trees, which sometimes bear seed in morbid excess, nor 
from trees enfeebled by extreme age or other debilitating causes. 

It is laid down as a rule worthy of close observance, that the trees from 
which the best seed are to be expected should be middle-aged, that grow 
isolated, or at least a little separate from others, so as to have the full 
benefit of the air and light — that the tree have a full head, and a perfect- 
ly healthy and vigorous condition. 

Wood that is aged and decaying, as well as that which is young and 
tender, is apt to yield seed that will not grow, or at least that will pro- 
duce dwarfish and worthless shoots. 

Scrubby and malformed trees, are said, on high authority, to tend to 
the production of degenerate varieties, from which they will not recover 
to the primitive type, until they have been cultivated under better con- 
ditions, and through several generations. 

Seeds should be gathered when the weather is dry, and such as are 
heavy, when they fall to the ground, as when beaten or shaken from the 
trees they sometimes fall before fully ripe. When gathered, they should 
be spread in thin layers in a dry airy place, at least until the dampness 
is evajDorated. The mode of preservation differs greatly with the species 
and the tendency to sprout, to rot, to heat, to perish by desiccation, or to 
mold, is to be counteracted according to circumstances. In some cases 
it is important to keep seeds from fluctuations of temperature by burying 
in dry sand, or covering them with litter or straw. In others it is advis- 
able to keep them cool and slightly damp, as by placing them in a cellar. 

The soft maples (Acer dasycarpum or silver maple, A. rubum or red 
maple) mature their fruit in June, and their seeds should be planted at 
once. The sugar, Norway, sycamore, and some other maples, ripen their 
seeds in the fall, and they may be sown then, or be kept in a box, mixed 
with sand, until the following spring. 

Acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, &c., should be planted as soon as they fall, 
to insure success ; but as they are liable to destruction by squirrels and 
other small animals, it may be often convenient to keep them in boxes 
covered with sand in a cool place to prevent too much drying, through 
the winter, and then plant in the spring. 

METHODS OF PRESERVING AND OF PLANTING SEEDS. 

Elm-seeds ripen in June, and if they find congenial soil and conditions, 
will make good growth the first season. 

Red-cedar berries should be bruised early in March, and mixed with 
an equal or greater bulk of wet wood-ashes. In three weeks the alkali 
will have cut the resinous gum, Avhen the seeds can be washed clean 
from tlie pulp. In preparing the seed-beds, dig the ground a foot or 
more in depth, mix for three or four inches at the surface a liberal dress- 
ing of well-rotted leaf-mold (or wood-soil) and sharp sand: Lay off the 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 71 

beds four feet wide, and sow, screen, and cultivate as elsewhere described 
for other evergreens. They may be watered occasionally in the evening 
in case of drought. The shading should be removed and a mulching of 
leaves two inches deep put along the rows. They may be transplanted 
to nursery rows the second spring, and three years after the alternate 
rows should be taken out.* 

ECONOMICAL MODE OF PRESERVING- ACORNS IN LARGE QUANTI- 
TIES THROUGH THE WINTER.— METHOD PRACTICED IN FRANCE. 

Acorns when kept over winter in large quantities, are liable to various 
accidents that injure or destroy their germinating power. They may 
become too dry ; in large heaps they will heat and mold ; or, if too wet, 
they will sprout sooner than is desired. To obviate these dangers, the 
following cheap mode of keeping them in large quantities has been men- 
tioned as practiced in France, which might be equally adapted to the 
middle latitudes of our own country, with such modifications due to 
greater dryness of climate as experience would suggest: 

A place is selected in a forest where the soil is sandy and dry, the sur- 
face level, or slightly inclined to the south, and the shelter of large trees 
low and abundant. It should be fenced in, and if liable to the drainage 
of water from adjacent grounds, a small ditch may be dug around it. 
The acorns are spread on the ground as gathered, but nowhere more than 
four or five inches deep, the leaves and litter being first removed. From 
the beginning, they should be raked an hour or two daily, with great 
regularity, during the first month, and after that a raking once in two or 
three days will be suflBicient. By the end of December their tendency to 
heat will be over, and during very cold weather they should be Hghtly 
covered with leaves or ferns ; but these should be taken off early to pre- 
vent sprouting. In temperate chmates, no covering is needed but the 
shelter of the trees. In very rainy winters, the raking may be renewed 
from time to time, and continued till time for planting. 

TREE-SEEDS— METHODS OF PLANTING. 

In a report of a committee upon forestry, made to the Iowa State Hor- 
ticultural Society in 1875 (p. 298), by Prof. Henry H. McAfee, the fol- 
lowing practical statements are made upon this subject: 

Seeds may be classified for purposes of treatment into three sorts, viz, nuts, hard 
seeds, and soft seeds. The nuts should always be planted where they are to re- 
main permanently, as the nut-trees do not usually transplant without considerable 
injury, and the nuts must be kept damp from the time when they are ripe till 
planted; at least the kernal must not be allowed to become dry, or they will sure- 
ly fail to grow. Thin soft-shelled nuts, like the chestnut, will, if exposed to sun 
and air,dry in a few hours enough to prevent growth. So nuts must be kept_ in 
earth, or on the earth under mulch, or in something that will prevent drying 
till used. Peat, moss, old straw, dust, &c., will do. A very good way is to spread 
them in a thin layer upon the ground, or in a trench so located that water cannot 
stand among them, and cover them thoroughly with mulch, plantingthematcorn- 
planting time, and about as deep as corn is planted. 

*S. Edwards, of Lamoile, 111., in Transactions of Wisconsin Agricultural Society," 1858-1859, p. 506. 
In this article, pi-eference is given to the red cedar in Ilhuois before any other evergreen for ordinary 
screens of moderate hight. For screens to orchards, buildings, and stock-yards, the Norway spruce 
would do better. Mr. Edwards has tried and rejected as not hardy, the cedar of Lebanon, Deodar 
cedar, Mount Atlas cedar, Douglas spruce, Menzies spruce, Araucarian pine, English and Irish yews, 
Chinese arbor-vitae, and golden-leaved yew. The sea-pine and European silver-fir were not sufficient- 
ly hardy unless protected in winter. 



7^ t^ORESf TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

The hard seeds are generally somewhat slow to germinate, and need to be in 
soak a long time, to be frozen wet, or to be scalded before planting, or to be treated 
with some substance to hasten germination. Thip class embraces honey-locust, 
which, if kept dry and planted in spring, will seldom ever grow the first year, and 
sometimes will not sprout till the third season ; also the stones of cherries and 
plums, and even the seeds of apples and pears. If mixed with sand (two parts 
of sand to one of seed by bulk) and dampened fully, and subjected to moderate 
freezing through the winter, all this class except honey-locust, cofiee-nut, the haw- 
thorns, and red cedar are likely to grow the season planted. For these exception- 
ally hard cases watqjr, heated to boiling, is poured over them, and, standing upon 
them an hour or two, some may swell, and can then be picked out and planted, 
and the more incorrigible treated to another scald, and thus till they all swell, or 
they are planted in fall and left to grow when they will ; or, in case of the haws, 
they may be mixed into bran-mash and fed to sheep or cattle, and the droppings 
planted, when the seeds, softened by the digestion, are likely to grow. 

The soft seeds, comprising all not named in the two other classes, may be still 
further divided into spring, fall, and winter seeds, each of which requires or per- 
mits different treatment. The spring seeds are those which ripen in spring or 
early summer, as silver and red maples and red and white elm, all ripening from 
May 15 to June 5,* and the rock elm a little later than the others. These seeds 
will not keep well, and should be gathered from the trees before they fall, except 
where they are so situated that they may fall into still water, when, being light 
and floating, they may sometimes be scooped up in large quantities. As soon as 
possible after gathering they should be planted, not covered deeply, say one-half 
inch, in good mellow soil, and if a fine mulch, like damp chaff", can be obtained, it 
should be lightly spread over ^he ground to protect from too rapid drying of the 
ground, which sometimes takes place in June. 

The winter soft seeds are ash-leaved maple, green and black ash, sycamore, bass- 
wood, &c., or those seeds which. have a tendency to hang all winter in sheltered 
localities. These seeds may be gathered sometimes as late as planting-time and 
immediately planted ; but if gathered earlier, had better be spread thinly upon 
the groujid and covered till planting-time. All others of the soft or winged seeds, 
not classed as spring or winter, are the soft fall seeds, and they should all be stored 
as directed for the nuts. Hackberry and cherry, though properly classed with the 
hard seeds, should be freed from their pulp in fall and stored in earth to freeze, 
and planted in spring without scalding. All seeds, but nuts which are large 
enough to pick up readily, and such as may be gathered floating on still water, as 
noted above, are best gathered from the trees, and stored so as not to dry too much. 
They must not be kept in too large masses, as, so dealt with, they may heat and 
spoil. * * * - 

If ground is not very weedy, it may be economy to plant all seeds in permanent 
plantation ; but in old or weedy ground it is generally best to grow them in seed- 
bed or nursery rows. If put in the permanent plantation, allowance should be 
made for poor seeds, aud more planted than you want of trees. The question of 
check-row or drill-planting is to be decided by the planter, and the same reasons 
which determine the manner of planting corn have weight in forestry ; though 
generally speaking, forestry is more satisfactory in drills than is an annual crop 
like corn. If check-rows are used, several seeds per hill are desirable ; and if 
drills, generally twice or three times as many seeds as you need trees should go 
in. It is not worth while to put tree-seeds into any but mellow, moist soil, and to 
secure good results with them, thorough culture the first year is necessary. A rule 
of depth sometimes given is to cover with soil as deep as the seed is thick, and 
that is of course very thin for small seeds. But seeds of trees often get covered 
too deep, and any seeds but the nuts ought to grow with half an inch of fine earth 
lightly packed above the seed. Nuts may be planted a little deeper, but not very 
much. 

Seed-beds and nursery rows are, all in all, to be advised, and they are generally 
used for seedling trees. Seed-beds are usually four feet wide and of any conven- 
ient length, and four inches above the surrounding level. For evergreen and 
larch seeds, which, by the way, ought not to be attempted by any one not trained* 
in the nursery business, shades are used in the form of lath hurdles, with open- 
ings of less width than the strips, and generally in addition to the hurdles, wind- 

•These dates, and in fact the whole article, will be consider<id as applying to Iowa and adja'«ent 
parts in the Western prairie country. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 73 

screens around the beds, while some nurserymen build arbors over their seed- 
beds, and such seed is generally put in broadcast, covering by sifting on sandy 
earth. But for any of our native tree-seeds, shading will hardly be necessary. 
******** * ** 

Drills across the beds one foot apart may be planted, or drills twenty to twenty- 
eight inehes apart may be made of any length, and on the general level, and the 
seeds planted at the rate of twenty to forty to the foot. Culture while plants are 
young should be by hand, running a hand wheel-hoe, and hand-weeding in the 
drill, if necessary ; but when the trees have attained some growth, a steady horse 
may be used, and if the nursery is made of long rows, of course horse labor is bet- 
ter employed than if it is in short rows. Most of the native trees will be fit at one 
year old to remove to permanent plantation, and if to be so used, should be dug 
in the fall, and stored by burying, or in cellar, ready for early planting the next 
spring. 

The writer mentions two systems of planting — ^the furrow and spade, 
giving preference to the latter, in any but a very damp spring. For this 
a heading spade (a sort with a long blade ending in an obtuse angle) is 
used to best advantage. The spade is pushed half-way down ; the handle 
borne a foot back, and then it is pushed down the whole length, wheti it 
is again brought upright. This makes a hole proper for receiving the 
roots of the tree, and when set the earth is pressed down. 

As for distance apart, 4 by 4 feet is generally preferable, which requires 
2,722 ^ees per acre. Spaces 3 by 3 are as near as can be cultivated by 
horse-power, giving 4,840 trees per acre. The writer prefers 3? by 3?, 
and has found that yellow cottonwood at this will cover the ground the 
first year. 

In planting trees, the earth should not be wet, so as to make a mortar ; 
neither should they be set while there is standing water in the hole. In 
such cases the soil in contact with the roots tends to become hard in dry- 
ing, to the great injury of the growth. The clay that may adhere and 
dry on, where the roots have been puddled in transplanting, should be 
rinsed off before the trees are set. The necessity of pressing the earth 
firmly around the roots appears to be greater in the fine prairie soil of 
the West then where it is of a coarser texture. At least, it appears to be 
the concurrent testimony of planters on the prairies that the soil should 
be strongly compressed, leaving, however, the surface loose, so as to read- 
ily absorb the rains. A clay soil would be apt to bake if pressed. This 
tendency to bake is greater when planting is done in a wet time. 

SHELTER TO YOUNG SHOOTS IN NURSERIES. 

When the young trees begins life ihits native conditions, it is sheltered 
by the parent boughs. When we seek to produce the same kinds, in nur- 
series, it fe in reason that we should not expose them to the direct rays 
of a hot sun. The careful forester will protect the tender shoots by 
branches of trees, lightly spread over the ground, and for this the decid- 
uous kinds are better than evergreens, because the latter afford less shade, 
and sooner shed their leaves. 

When this shelter is removed, it should be done little by little, to 
accustomi the plants gradually to the open air. 

NUMBER OF TREES TO THE ACRE. 

Systematic treatises upon planting, give tables showing the number of 
trees of different species that should be allowed to remain on the ground 
at different ages of growth. But so many circumstances of soil, aspect, 



74 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 



and climate effect these, that the experience of one locality can scarcely 
be allowed to establish rules for another. In fact, this must be left to the 
skill and intelligence of the planter, who should carefully observe the 
wants of the case and afford the relief from overcrowding that the case 
demands. 

It has been stated, as a general rule, that full half of the trees first 
planted at 4 feet apart should be removed before the growth is 20 feet 
high ; the number should not exceed 800 to the acre, when 30 feet high ; 
and when 40 feet, not over 300 to 350 to the acre, the soil and exposure 
being the most favorable that are found. Others reckon the space between 
at one-fifth of the height. 

Some idea of the capacity of soil for tree-growth, under the best man- 
agement in Europe, may be formed from the statement that an acre of 
ash,_ elm, or sycamore 40 years old Avill contain 2,000 or 3,000 cubic feet 
of timber, and when 60 years old double this amount. This is, besides 
the ; successive thinnings, which become, when near a market, an impor- 
tant source of income, and when the growth becomes large, may be more 
in value than the cost of management and interest of investment. 
These thinnings should be continued as long as necessary, and in full- 
grown forests may sometimes be required in forests 80 years old. As a 
general rule, larch, spruce, and other conifers require less space than 
broad-leaved deciduous trees. Larch is supposed to do well in good soil, 
with 9 feet space around it. 

It is also observed that certain trees bear the shade of other species 
better than that of their own, and that, therefore, a mixture, as for 
instance, of oak and beech, will grow nearer together than either species 
would if alone. 

_ The following table shows the number of trees upon an acre, at the 
distance specified, and the number that might be left at different ages, 
with the proportional value of the thinning, taken at these several 
periods : 



Age (years;. 


1 

A 
« 

a 
5 


o 


Trees taken 
out. 


Proportional 
value of each 
trimming to 
total trim'ng. 


10 


J^i. In. 

3 9 

4 
4 3 

4 7 

5 6 

6 6 
8 


3,097 
2,792 
2,411 
2,073 
1,440 
1,031 
680 


358 
375 
311 
338 
833 
409 
291 


Per cent. 


15 


3.4 


20 


5.2 


27 




35 : 


23.6 


43 


51 


23.7 




27.5 



The amount of timber grown on a given area, in some of the govern- 
mental forests of Europe that have been planted and managed accord- 
ing to the rules of forestal science, is verv much greater than the same 
soil would grow m wood if left to itself So striking is the difference, 
that Dr. Berenger, who is at the head of the Italian school at Vallom- 
brosa, remarks, m the Journal of Forestal Economy {^GtiornalU di Econ- 
omia For estate) 1871-72: 

That while an uncultivated woodland taken for a long period, and counting 
interest and taxes would j-ield almost nothing to the capital invested, it is well- 
estapiisliecl tliat the same land, managed according to modern science, would, in 
tiie long run, yuHd a revenue both conspicuous and constant. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 75 



PLANTATION OF DIFFERENT SPECIES. 

Without attempting to discuss the artistic effects which become a 
study in landscape gardening and the laying out of parks, we will con- 
cisely state some suggestions that have been made as worthy of atten- 
tion by those who wish to apply them. 

By placing a plat of white pine in the centre, and surrounding it by 
successive belts of Norway spruce, Scotch pine, Austrian pine, white 
cedar, and red cedar, the group planted on level ground, when fully 
grown would appear highest in the middle, as if standing upon a mound. 
A belt of Cottonwood around the margin would afford shelter while 
needed, and should be cut away when fully established. 

Orchard belts of Scotch pine, white pine, Norway spruce, and larch, 
have been recommended, and the use of screens on the north and west 
sides have been mentioned as desirable But from observation and 
Inquiry in the prairie States of the West, we are convinced that the most 
injury to fruit trees has resulted from hot, drying winds from the south- 
west, and that a screen against these is quite necessary. 

For a mound of diciduous trees on level ground, a central plat of 
European larch, surrounded by belts of the American larch, soft maple, 
honey locust, black oak, wild cherry, hickory, iron wood, crab-apple, and 
wild plum, has been suggested. But these combinations are too vari- 
able for a general rule, and in each locality, the planter, with a knowl- 
edge of the habits of growth of the trees at his command, will be able 
to vary them to suit his purposes. 

RELATIVE VALUE OF GROWTH AT DIFFERENT AGES^ 

It is very often found that the layers of annual growth are tliicker 
when young, and that they progressively diminish in width as they 
increase in size. The conifers of the Rocky Mountains, and elsewhere, 
often show this fact in a conspicuous manner. 

In other kinds, as the elm, the wood is more profitable when cut 
young, because the timber deteriorates in quality with age. The inner 
wood of a large elm tree is comparatively spongy and weak. But in 
other woods, as the oak, the value increases in a gaining progression 
with age, and large timbers are worth more per cubic foot than small 
ones, because they can be applied to more important uses when of 
larger size. The annual revenue from the growth of an oak tree, of the 
species commonly used in ship building, has been very carefully deter- 
mined from the mean of a great number of records in France, and is 
stated as follows : 

Fr. c. 

Tree 50 years old 10 per annum. 

Tree 100 years old 80 per annum. 

Tree 150 years old... 2 00 per annum. 

Tree 200 years old 4 00 per annum. 

The value per cubic foot, therefore, increases with the size of the tree, 
and (for straight hewn timber) the length of clean trunk below the 
branches. 



76 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 



GROWTH OF WOOD IN DIFFERENT YEARS. 

Every one who has closely examined the layers of wood growth on a 
transverse section, must have noticed that considerable difference occurs 
between the growth of different years. We have here, in fact, a record 
of the combined influences of climate upon wood growth. Soil, aspect, 
and other circumstances of a permanent kind may largely influence 
different trees of the same species, but in a given tree, one year with 
another, they change so little that we may scarcely be able to appreciate 
their efl'ect; and in comparing the thickness and quality of the layers 
formed in diflerent years, we may regard them as an indication of the 
effects of temperature, moisture, winds, and other variable elements of 
the climate. 

ADVICE OF MR. GREELEY WITH REFERENCE TO TREE-PLANTmO. 

The founder of the New York Tribune, took frequent occasion to urge 
with voice and pen the practical importance of tree-planting, not only 
for the direct, but also the indirect profits to be derived from this source. 
In a little manual, well known, and full of sound advice in matters relat- 
ing to the general interests of husbandry, this writer gives the follow- 
ing suggestions as to the advantages and best methods of forest cul- 
ture : 

I have said that I beheve in cutting trees as well as in planting them. I have 
not said, and do not mean to say, that I believe in cutting evervthing clean as you 
go. That was once proper ; * * * jt jy qHH advisable in forest-covered 
regions, where the sun must be let in before croj^s can be grown ; but in nine 
cases out of ten timber should be thinned or culled out rather than cut off ; and 
for every tree taken away at least two should be planted or set out. * * * 
Why do not farmers infer readily and generally, that growing indifferent timber, 
where the best and most valued would grow as rapidly, is a stupid costly blunder ? 
It seems to me that whoever has attained the conviction that apple-trees should 
be grafted, ought to know that it is wasteful to grow red oak, beech, white maple, and 
alder where white oak, hickorj^, locusts, and white pine might be groAvn with 
equal facility, in equal luxuriance, jjrovided the right seeds were planted, and a 
little pains taken to keep down, for a year or two, the shoots sj^ontaneously sent 
up by the wrong ones. 

North of the Potomac and east of the Ohio, and, I presume, in limited districts 
elsewhere, rocky sterile woodlands, costing $2 to $50 per acre, according to loca- 
tion, &c., are to-day the cheapest property to be bought in the United States, even 
though nothing were done with them but keep out tire and cattle and let the young 
trees grow as they will. Money can be more profitably and safely invested in lands 
covered by young timber than anything else. The jjarent who would invest a few 
thousand for the benefit of his children or grandchildren, still young, may buy wood- 
lands whicli will be worth twenty times their present cost within the next twenty 
years. But better even than this would it be to buy up rocky, craggy, naked hill- 
sides and eminences which have been pastured to death, and shutting out cattle 
inflexibly, scratch these over with plow, mattock, hoe, or pick, as circumstances 
shall dictate, plant them thickly with chestnut, walnut, hickory, white oak, and 
the seeds of locust and white pine. I say locust, though not yet certain that this 
tree must not be started in garden or nursery beds and transplanted when two or 
three years old, so puny and feeble is it at the outset, and so likely to be smoth- 
ered under leaves or killed out by its more favored neighbors. I have experi- 
ments in progress, not yet matured, which may shed light on this point before I 
finish these essays. 

Plant thickly, and of diverse kinds, so as to cover the ground promptly and 
choke out weeds and shrubs, with full purpose to thin and prune as circumstances 
shall dictate. 

Many farmers are averse to planting timber, because they think nothing can be 



FOREST TEEE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 77 

realized therefrom for the next twenty or thirty years, which is as long as they 
expect to live. But this is a grave miscalculation. Let us suppose a rocky, hilly 
pasture lot of ten or twenty acres, rudely scratched over as I have suggested, and 
thickly seeded with hickorVnuts and white oak acorns only ; within five years it 
will yield abundantly of hoop-poles, though the better more promising half be 
left to nature, as they should be ; two years later, another and larger crop of hoop- 
poles may be cut, still sparing the best ; and thenceforth a valuable crop of tim- 
ber may be taken from that land ; for if cut at the proper season, at least two 
thrifty sprouts will start from every stump ; and so that wood will yield a clear 
income each year, while its best trees are steadily growing and maturing. I do 
"not advise restriction to those two species of timber ; but I insist that a young 
plantation of forest trees may and should yield a clear income in every year after 
its fourth. 

As to the far West — the plains, the parks, and the Great Basin — there is more 
money to be made by dotting them with groves of choice timber than by working 
the richest veins of the adjacent mountains. Whoever will promptly start, near 
a present or prospective railroad, forty acres of choice trees — hickory, white 
oak, locust, chestnut, and white pine— within a circuit of three hundred iniles 
from Denver, on land which he has made or is making provision to irrigate, 
may begin to sell trees therefrom two years hence, and persist in selling annually 
henceforth for a century, at first for tra^nsplanting — very soon for a variety of usea 
in addition to that. 

EVELYN'S MAXIM FOR THE PREPARATION FOR PLANTING. 

The keeping of soil around the roots of a tree when taken up for 
planting, is no new notion, for Evelyn, in writing two centuries and more 
ago, reminds us that — 

Theophrastus, in his third book. Be Cmtsis, (cap. vii), gives us great caution in 
planting to preserve the roots, and especialij^ the earth adhering to the smallest 
fibrils, which should, by no means, be shaken off, as most of our gardeners do, to 
trim and quicken them, as they pretend, which is to cut them shorter ; * * * 
and, therefore, Cato advises us to take care that we bind the mold about them, or 
transfer the roots in baskets, to preserve it from forsaking them, as now, our nur- 
serymen frequently do, by which they of late, are able to furnish our grounds, 
avenues, and gardens in a moment, with trees, and other plants, which would else 
require many years to appear in such perfection.* 

Evelyn also, notices the importance of preparing the holes some time 
beforehand, so that they be left, some time open to macerating' rains, 
frosts and sun — 

So that they resolve the compacted salt, (as some will have it,) render the earth 
friable, mix and qualify it for aliment, and to be more easily drawn in and digested 
by the roots and analogous stomach of tree. This, to some degree, may be artifi- 
cially done, by burning of straw in the newly-opened pits, and drenching the 
mold with water, especially in overdry seaons, and by meliorating barren ground 
with sweet and comminuted lactations. Let, therefore, this be received as a 
maxim: Never to plant a fruit of forest trees where there has lately been an 
old decayed one taken up till the pit be well ventilated and furnished with fresh 
mold.- 

This practice of exposing the soil taken from excavations made for 
tree-planting to the action of frost, and other atmospheric influences, is 
sanctioned by the best experience. It is most serviceable in strong clay 
soils, and is chiefly limited to ornamental planting. 

A PRACTICAL VIEW OF THE TIMBER QUESTION. 

We shall have elsewhere repeated occasion to mention the eminent suc- 
cess with which the Hon. C. E. Whiting, of Monona county, in western 

*Syhja : or a Dizcourse of Fo7-est Trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty' s Dominions 
&•€. By John Evolyn (1669). Huntei's third edition, i, p. 57. 



78 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

Iowa, has commenced plantations of timber, and the profits ah'eady 
derived from this source. He has been not less diligent in precept than 
commendable in practice, and his experience is worthy of careful notice 
everywhere, and especially in the prairie States of the northwest, to 
which it more particularly applies. In an essay presented at a meeting 
of the State Horticultural Society, in 1876, after mentioning the rapid 
waste and consumption of timber throughout the United States, he says : 

The rapid cutting away of what forest we have, and the feeding off and plowing 
under of so large a portion of our ijrairie grass, are already beginning to tell with 
disastrous effect on all our inland streams, large and small. The question will 
here arise : What shall we do ? To my mind, in the light of my experience, the 
answer is plain, and the solution easy. Let us use the timber nature has furnished 
us for all the puri^oses that our wants really require — just as we would use a crop 
of wheat, corn, cattle, or hogs ; but, as with the latter crops, let us consider the 
question of keeping up our stock. In the place of every tree we cut, enough 
should be planted to make the loss at least doubly good. 

The title-deeds which we hold to the broad acres of this good old mother earth 
of ours, gives us no moral right to render them unfit for habitation for those who 
are to follow us. Nature has formed all things well, if man would only profit by 
her lesson, even when she made these vast prairies. One-tenth part of our surface 
covered with timber — planted in belts — would furnish an abundant supply for 
every conceivable purpose for which timber is needed. The remaining nine- 
tenths will furnish more of all the necessaries of life, and that with far more 
uniform certainty, than the whole would without the protection of the one-tenth 
in timber-belts. For the last twelve years, for every native tree that I have ap- 
propriated to my own use, I have planted, at least, one hundred, and it is proving 
to be, and is likely to continue, one of the best-paying investments ever made in 
Iowa. Let us now consider a few reasons why every man on a prairie farm should 
plant timber : 

1. To those of us who have chosen our homes in this prairie State, it is a bind- 
ing duty that we owe to ourselves, to our State, and our children. 

2. Timber-growing is no longer an experiment, but, with care, a certain and 
complete success. 

3. The State has wisely offered to, and actually does pay, in exemption from 
taxation, an amount equal to the entire expense of cultivating the timber. 

4. If planted in belts around the farm, the protection is worth more than the 
rent of the ground on which the timber stands. AU the timber which I have 
planted, o]-, will plant under the present law, will stand, when ten years old, with- 
out ha\dng cost me a cent. 

5. It renders a farm so much more beautiful and attractive us a home, and so 
much more valuable if we ever wish to sell. 

6. One can hardly look on those beautiful groves, with their cool shade in sum- 
mer, and protection in winter, without a feeling of self-conscious satisfaction, that 
he has done one good thing for himself, for his State, and for his posterity. 

With these facts before us, have we not every inducement to go forward in the 
work ? Our State, as a part of the great confederacy, is taking noble lead in the 
work. Our State Horticultural Society is giving, and giving most eariiestly, all the 
benefit of her great experience. The State Agricultural Society has also oflered 
large premiums for timber-planting ; but its strongest and most earnest advocates 
are to be found among those who, to-day, are in house, barn, and fielil, surrounded 
by the protecting influence of groves and belts, and know their full value, both in 
summer and winter. A high state of civilization, and an abundance of timber, 
rnust ever go hand in hand ; and it is a hopeful sign of the times, that the whole 
(ivilized world is beginning to move in this direction. Iowa, as a State, must 
move with the current if she maintains her present proud position. As fine 
groves of young cottonwood, white willows, and box-elders, as I ever saw growing, 
I have seen in the extreme north-west counties of our State, as Clay, O'Brien, and 
Oceola. In the years 1873 and 1874, the Saint Paul and N. P. R. R. Company 
planted, successfull, four millions of trees west of the timber region of Minnesota, 
toward the Red River of the north. * * * 

A few words more to one class of our citizens, and I have done. To our young 
men, Avho are just starting life for themselves and feel as though they needed 
every dollar of money and every hour of time for oither purposes, let me say, get 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 79 

a few cuttings of white willow, or Cottonwood, from an older neighbor, or pull up 
a few seedlings from the nearest river-bottom, or, in the proper season, gather a 
few seeds of ash, box-elder, soft maple, or elm ; plant, set, or stick, as the case 
may be, in well-prepared ground, north and west of house and field lots ; plant 
close together, take good care for two or three years in the way of good culture, 
and you will, almost from the beginning, have an abundance of cuttings from your 
own Cottonwood and willows to continue your plantation around your fields, and 
in a very short time, you will have any quantity of seeds from your box-elder, 
maple, and ash, for further plantations. If the quick -growing trees be planted 2 
by 5 feet in the rows, an upright growth will be secured, and the needed thinning 
out, as the poles attain size, will very soon furnish all the fire-wood needed. Set 
all the trees on the outside line, in straight rows, and equal distances apart, and 
they will, in a very few years, support either boards or wires for a fence. 

TREE-PLANTING IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS.— OBSERVATION OF 
MR. GEORGE B. EMERSON, AS TO PLANTING, CULTIVATION, KINDS 
OF TIMBER BEST ADAPTED TO THE CLIMATE, ETC. 

Mr. George B. Emerson, of Boston, in a letter, commending the sub- 
ject of planting in eastern Massachusetts,* remarks : 

In our hard and barren soil, the land on which the seed is sown, or the young 
trees are planted, must, for many years, be cultivated while the plants are grow- 
ing, in order that they may make any show at all, even in twenty years. They 
will, doubtless, grow without cultivation — but very slowly. If an open pasture, 
or newly cleared land should be taken, the process must be very diff'erent in the 
two cases. In an old, open uncultivated pasture, the soil and sub-soil, are usually 
very hard, presenting great obstacles to the penetration of the roots. In this case, 
the ground must be plowed, that it may be opened and loosened to the depth of 
two feet. After the acorns are sow'ed, or the frees planted, the plow can go only 
between the rows, leaving the subsoil between the rows unmoved. This shows 
the necessity of getting the ground in proj)er condition before the operation of 
sowing or planting begins. 

The best kinds of oak, are those of the white-oak group, viz : the common white 
oak, the swamp white-oak, both of them common, in Essex county, [Massachu- 
setts], the over-cup oak and the mossy-cup, the latter to be found in Berkshire, 
the stem-fruited and the sessile-fruited, which grow readily in our climate, and 
the chestnut-oak, found north and south of us, and the Rocky Mountain oak, 
found in rocky hills, in several parts of the State. The wood of all these eight, is 
of great value as fuel and for timber uses. The next group, is the red-oak group, 
containing the black or yellow-barked oak, the scarlet-oak, the pin-oak, and the 
two varieties of the red, called the red and the gray. The black and the scarlet, 
are common in Essex county, and are valuable and verj' beautiful. The pin-oak 
is found farther south, but would, I think, grow readily here. The red-oak is a 
rapid grower, and a beautiful tree, but the least valuable of the oaks for fuel or 
timber. There is one species of the live-oak group — I mean the willow-oak, 
which grows so luxuriantly in the States but little south of this — that I have no 
doubt would grow here. 

The time for sowing the acorns is in the autumn, immediately after they have 
fallen from the tree. It is very diflicult to keep the acorns through the winter, 
and it is necessary only when they are to be transplanted to a distance. They 
should be placed just below the surface. The plants must for some years be kept 
free from weeds. I suppose the most profitable way of doing this is that practiced 
in the peach orchards in New Jersey, which are for some years covered with crops 
of beans, potatoes, or something else suitable to the soil. 

The first acre sowed or planted as a nursery, will bear plants enough for many 
acres of forests. As they grow larger they may be thinned out and transplanted ; 
and when too large for that, may be gradually thinned for poles or for fuel. I 
suppose that, either for ornament or for timber-forest, it would be a great advan- 
tage to continue to cultivate between the trees, until they cast so deep a shade that 
nothing would profitably grow. 

If recently cleared forest land is to be restored to forest, plowing may be neces- 
sary, but probably not subsoil plowing, as the roots will keep the ground open and 

*Transactions of the Agricnltoral Societies of Massachusetts, 1874, p, 42. 



80 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

porous by their own penetration. The thing to be principally regarded is the 
character of the previous growth. Land ought not to be chosen which has already 
been covered with oaks, unless the cultivator is willing to go to the expense pf 
trenching to the depth of two or three feet to bring to the surface unused virgin 
soil. 

It would be well . to cultivate all the different species, as different species are 
adapted to different situations ; the swamp-oak and mossy-cup to moist land, the 
rock-chestnut to dry, rocky hills, the red to sandy, the white to clayey, the black 
and the scarlet to hard and hungry soils. 

Perhaps it would be well to interpret "oaks" as including the oak family, and 
thus taking the beech and chestnut ; the former for its beauty as a tree near 
dwelling houses, the latter for its great rapidity of growth, and for its value as 
fencing and building stuff. 

PROFITS OF PLANTING.— STATEMENT OF ME. O. B. GALUSHA, OF 

ILLINOIS. 

In a lecture at the Industrial University of Illinois, in 1869, the fol- 
lowing instances of forest growth and profits of timber culture were 
mentioned by Mr. 0. B, Galusha :* 

A few miles from my residence are a few acres of ground which were cleared 
of timber sixteen or seventeen years since. There was then left upon the ground 
a growth of underbrush only, consisting of several varieties of oak, hickory, ash, 
and some other sorts. I have watched the growth of timber there from year to 
year, until the present time, and am myself surprised at the result. The land was 
worth, when cleared, perhaps $12 per acre, not more. There have been taken 
from it, during the last seven years, poles equal in value, probably to $10 per acre, 
and $150 per acre would hardly buy the trees now standing upon it. So that, if 
we estimate the value of the land (at the time mentioned) at $12 per acre, and 
compute the interest upon this for 16 years at 6 per cent, compound interest, add- 
ing the amount of taxes accruing during the time, with interest upon this at the 
same rates, we have $100 per acre as the net profit of the timber crop ; while, of 
course, the land itself has partaken of the generally enhanced value of surround- 
ing real estate, and would now probably sell for $50 per aea-e, were the timber 
removed. 

* * * Let us estimate the expense of raising a growth of ten acres, planted 
with white ash and black walnut, five acres of each. These varieties grow at 
about the same rate, and are about equally valuable for lumber. The seeds of the 
ash, like all seeds of this class which ripen in the autumn, should be gathered 
when ripe, and kept in the cellar through winter. The walnuts, as other nuts, 
should be spread evenly upon the ground, where surface water will not stand, 
not more than two nuts in depth, and covered with two or three inches of mellow 
soil, that they may freeze during the winter; to be planted as soon in spring as 
they show signs of sprouting. The land shoiild be deeply plowed, late in the fall 
if practicable, and finely pulverized in early spring, and marked both ways, as for 
corn, three feet eight inches apart. The tree seeds and nuts should be planted 
eleven feet apart, which will admit of two rows of corn or potatoes between each 
two rows of trees. By putting two or three seeds in a place, to be thinned out to 
one if both or all germinate, an even stand can be secured. A better way is to 
plant in rows, eleven feet apart, running north and south, and three feet eight 
inches, — (in the marks for corn). This will secure straight trees, being closer, and 
they may be thinned out to eleven feet each way, when large enough to use for 
grape stakes, bean or hop poles. This will give 300 trees per acre, or 8000 trees in 
all, allowing for some vacancies, though in all 'cases of tree planting, whether in 
groves or screens, a supply of good plants, grown elsewhere, should always be in 
readiness to use in filling vacancies, which should be done at the end of the first 
year. 

The prei)aration of ten acres, at $5 per acre, would be $50. Average cost of 
seed, 50 cents per acre, $5. Planting, $25. The cultivation, during the first five 
years, will be paid for in the crops grown between rows. For cultivation from 
fifth to ninth years, four years, with horses only, $30 j^er year, $120. After this 
time no cultivation or care will be needed. This makes the entire cost, in seed 

♦"Second Annual Report of Board of Trustees of Illinois Industrial University," p. 352. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 81 

and labor, of the 10 acres of trees, $200. These trees will, at twenty-five years of 
age, average sixteen inches in diameter at the ground, and about ten inches at 
the height of sixteen feet. This will give, deducting waste in sawing, 120 feet of 
lumber per tree. Allowing one-sixth for damage by the elements and loss from 
other causes, we have, in round numbers, 360,000 feet of lumber, which, at |)50 per 
M., would amount to |)18,000. The value of the tree tops for fuel would be equal 
to the cost of preparing the logs for the mill, and the expense in sawing would 
not exceed |5 per M. This, added to the cost of producing the trees, and the 
amount deducted from the value of the lumber, leaves $16,000 for the use of ten 
acres of land for twenty -five years, and the interest upon the amount expended 
in planting and cultivating the trees! This statement may be deemed incredible, 
perhaps, by those who have not previously turned their attention to the subject; 
but after much study and many years' observation and measurements of growths 
of different varieties of trees, I am convinced that in all well-conducted experi- 
ments in growing artificial groves upon our large prairies, the profits will not fall 
far, if at ail, short of the rates above stated. It must be borne in mind that trees 
standing at regular and proper distances upon rich prairie soil, and receiving good 
cultivation, will grow much faster than the same varieties found growing in 
natural groves, i'or a list of varieties suitable for planting in artificial groves, I 
would refer all interested to the lists recommended by our State Historical 
Society, with the remark that the planter can hardly be in error in planting any 
tree which is indigenous in a soil and climate similar to his own ; while many 
trees, whose native homes are found in latitude north or south, have thus far 
proved valuable, as the osage orange and catalpa from the south and the red pine 
and white spruce and some others from the north. Some foreign varieties are 
equal or superior to any of our natives, among which are European or Scotch 
larch (best of all foreign deciduous trees), Austrian and Scotch pines, ^STorway 
spruce, and white willow. 

Rules of E. Ferrand on evergreen culture (Nebraska). — Suggested 
by ten years experience as an evergreen-tree raiser, and ten years as 
evergreen-forest planter : 

1st. Never plant your evergreens in the fall of the year, but do it in the spring as 
early as you can obtain the trees. 

2d. Do not set your trees in the ground deeper by an inch than they stood in 
the nursery. Use no manure of any kind in planting evergreens or larch, but let 
the soil be mellow and friable, without lumps in contact with the roots. 

od. Do not plant trees under two years old even for stocking a nursery, and for 
the garden and lawn give the preference to trees one to three feet high. 

■1th. Never dig deep among the roots of your trees, but keep the soil mellow and 
moist at the surface by a light mulching of bruised straw or hay, that will prevent 
the weeds from growing. 

oth. Last, but not least, get your trees direct from a nxirsery, carefully avoiding 
trees that are heeled in by peddlers in the fall, because such are always killed at 
the root, notwithstanding their green appearance ; and here allow me a little 
digression. Give your preference to home nurseries. You have men here en- 
gaged in the business who have spent their hfe-time, judging what varieties of 
trees you could better plant, for your profit and success. — [Fourth Annual Report 
of Nebraska State Board of Agriculture, 1873, p. 443.) 

METHOD OF CULTIVATION BY THE WINNER OP A PRIZE. 

A statement made by Hiram 0. Minick, Nemaha County, Nebraska, 
to whom a premium was awarded for the cultivation of a grove of not less 
than 1,000 trees, gives the following account of his method of cultivation: 

The ground was plowed in the spring, the same as for a crop of corn, and crossed 
out at distances of five feet by seven. The Cottonwood yearling trees were pro- 
cured on a sand-bar in the Missouri River in the fall previous, and heeled in dur- 
ing winter. By selecting a spot on the sand-bar where the surface of the sand is 
but little above the water in the river, the yearling trees can be pulled out with 
great rapidity, probably at the rate of a thousand in twenty minutes, the operation 
being similar to pulling flax, and the trees can thus be taken up preserving their 
rootless entire, thus securing them in the best possible condition for transplanting j 

6 



82 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

and taken at this age they receive hut little check in their growth hy the opera- 
tion. Part of my grove was planted witli the spade, the operation being the same 
as for a hedge. Another part of the grove was planted by drawing a deep furrow 
with the plow, and dropping the trees at the crossings of the furrows, the roots in 
the furrow and the tops projecting out, and then cover bj' throwing another fur- 
row-slice upon the roots and base of the stock with a plow. This left the trees 
leaning at an angle say of forty -five degrees, and fearing this position would be 
injurious to the trees, I took the i)ains to place some of them carefullj^ erect; but 
upon an examination of the trees after one year's growth no difference was per- 
ceptible in those left leaning and those streightened up, as they invariably start 
their growth from a bud near the base of the stock and grow erect. The portion 
of my grove composed of cottonwood contains about 3,000 trees, and was the work 
of two men, a boy and team, one day planting. The ground was cultivated simi- 
lar to corn for two years after i^lanting. This required one hand and horse two 
days each year to five acres of ground. The maple portion of my grove was 
planted by preparing the ground the same as above, and dropping the seed (which 
had been procured from trees on the Xemaha Eiver) in the furrow and cover- 
ing with the harrow, and cultivating as above. The seed ripens about the middle 
of May, and is generally very abundant. The following may be considered as a 
fair estimate of the cost of the grove : 

Hand and team one day procuring trees |3 00 

Two men, boy, and team employed in planting 5 00 

Plowing gi'ound 5 Oo 

Two years' cultivation of trees 9 00 

Total , $22 00 

TIMBER-GROWING IN NEBRASKA. 

[From an article by J. W. Davidson, in the Fourth Report of the State Board of Agriculture, p. 444.] 

* * * The best method of stocking our prairies with timber is to prepare the 
soil precisely as you would if you were going to raise a large crop of corn. The 
quickest way to raise a grove is with cuttings of cottonwood or willow. I plow, 
drag, and mark the same as for. corn, four feet each way, which will contain 2,722 
hills to the acre. I should plant one-half to trees, four feet one way and eight the 
other, making 1,361 trees, and the other in corn for two years, to pay for cultiva- 
tion, and that is all the cultivation needed. I should adopt the same plan in plant- 
ing acorns, hickorynuts, Avhite and black walnuts, soft maple, elm, and ash, where 
the sprouts are one year old. White pine, arborvitae, red cedar, European and 
American larch, when large enough to transplant, require more cultivation. I 
estimate the cost of preparing an acre and getting the cuttings of soft maple or 
ash (they can be had by the thousand along or streams) at $3 per acre. A man 
can plant two and a half acres jjer day. This is all the cost for ten years, except 
interest and taxes on land. I have 1,361 trees per acre ; seven years from planting 
I will cut one-fourth, or 340 trees, equal to 15 cords of wood ; the eighth year 15 
cords more; the ninth the same; the tenth year j^ou see my profits. I should cut 
what is left, 456 trees. Allow four trees to the cord, so as not to overestimate it. 
I have several trees only ten years old, which are 14 inches in diameter and 50 
feet high; four, I think, would make a cord. Allowing six trees to the cord, we 
have 76 cords, and with 45 cords cut before, 121 cords. At $3 per cord allowing $1 
for cutting, I have $242. I contend that five acres planted to cottonwood after a 
growth of seven years, will furnish one family with fuel for one stove a life-time 
and sell enough to pay for the use of the land besides. I claim, after fifteen years 
experience in tree-planting on this plan, which •! adopted last spring on Arbor 
Day, on my new farm in Otoe County, Nebraska, that the white willow [Salixalba) 
is equal to soft maple for wind-breaks and fuel, and superior to all trees for rapid- 
ity of growth, as well as good for timber. Chestnut, too, is super-excellent. The 
climate influence of timber is decernible in the regular attraction of rain and tem- 
pering the chilly winds of the winter. 

PLANTING IN NEBRASKA. 

[From an arti('lo hy James Morris, in the Fourth Report of the State Board of Agriculture, p. 454.; 

* -X- * 'Wliat shall we ])lant in Nebraska that will most quickly and fully meet 
our requirements? Slu'Uer and sliade are our immediate and imperative necessity. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS MANUAL. 53 

To provide these we unhesitatingly recommend, first of all, our native trees, in the 
following order: Soft maple, willow, cottonwood, buckeye, ash. The maple is 
raised from seed as easily as corn ; makes a good shelter when thickly planted in 
rows, and a grateful shade where room is given to its lateral branches. It furnishes a 
fuel which, though it does not consume as slowly as oak and hickory, makes a 
quick, hot fire. The willow, objected to by many as a harbor for insects, yet ofi- 
ers a complete break to the keen winds, grows rapidly to a good size, and some 
varieties, as the white and the weeping willow, furnish good timber for fuel and 
manufacturing purposes. The common osier, planted upon wet spots, will pay as 
well as any other crop on the farm. Cutting of all varieties are easily and cheaply 
secured. 

As a source of profit the raising of trees in Nebraska ranks next to the raising 
of stock. A quarter-section planted with chestnut, spruce, larch, maple, mammoth 
aspen, or even inferior trees, would, in ten years, yield a satisfactory return for the 
investment. 

CLOSE PLANTING OF COTTONWOOD. 

Judge Whiting, of Monona County, Iowa, remarked in 1869, that he 
had at first planted cottonwood eight feet apart each way, giving each 
tree 64 square feet of ground. They grew well, but too many branches 
in proportion to the amount of body wood. He had adopted the rule of 
planting three feet each way, giving nine square feet to ii tree, and in 
this order they grew tall and straight, soon shaded the ground, and in 
three years needed no further cultivation than thinning as became neces- 
sary, by removing alternate rows and drawing out the poles with one 
horse and a chain. 

THINNING OF PLANTATIONS. 

In a young growth of natural seedlings, the plants are often densely 
crowded ; but as they become larger the feeble ones die, and others lose 
their lower branches ; and so, from year to year, the numbers diminish 
in the struggle for life, until but a small part of the first number comes 
to full maturity. The careful forester seeks to imitate this process of 
nature, by securing a sufficient growth for shading the ground from an 
early period, and by reducing the numbers as the trees increase in size. 
These labors include the clearing out of the worthless bushes and bram- 
bles that never come to useful size, but is chiefly secured by giving the 
greatest opportunity possible to the most valuable kinds. No rules can 
be given for the execution of this work, without knowing the conditions, 
further than the general statement, that it should be done wherever 
required, and as often as may be necessary. 

With respect to the removal of a part of the trees of the valuable 
kinds, where crowded, great prudence is to be exercised, because the 
whole gowth, if standing dense, if too much exposed at once, would be 
liable to suffer from the winds, or from the weight of snows. The pre- 
cept laid down by Lorentz and Parade for the first thinning, is as fol- 
lows :* 

The principal rule to be observed in a thinning of this kind, is to keep the trees 
conveniently close, and in a word, never interrupt the continuity. In a young wood, 
which has hitherto grown very dense, the stems are very thin and slender, and 
have the greatest need of support. An imprudent clearing would expose them to 
storms ; they would be injured by the weight of snow and ice, or even bent down 
by the weight of their own tops. In such a growth, it is to some extent necessary 
to save some of the poorer kind as protectors, and allow them to stand till the 

♦"Culture des Bois," 2d. ed., p. 174. 



84 FOREST TREE RLANTERs' MANUAL, 

next thinning. We should also remember that the young trees must obtain the 
greatest height possible, and this can only be done by keeping them close. At an 
older stage of growth, the inconvenience of too much thinning would be less inju- 
rious. Moreover, if opened too much, the grass and the weeds will get in and 
absorb a part of the aliment of the soil ; or, if it be a seed year, a new crop 
of tree seedlings will cover the ground, which is to be, if possible, avoided. 

The age at which the first thinning is needed cannot be fixed by any ^-ule, as it 
depends upon the rate of growth and the various influences to which it is exposed. 
It should begin as soon as the lower branches begin to die and droj) ofi", and 
should be repeated more thoroughly when the trees get to be three or four inches 
in diameter at the ground, and afterward from time to time as may be necessary 
till the forest gains its full maturity. These operations may be repeated every 
five years at first, and afterward at longer intervals. In the State forests of 
France, where the most valuable timber is the object, and time of less conse- 
quence, the interval is some fifteen or twenty years. Although in these opera- 
tions no particular number of trees can be fixed as a rule, it may serve as some 
guide to give the followtng as approximately the proper number to be left : 

At 30 to 40 vears— 1,300 to 1,620 to the acre.* 

At 50 to 60 years— 490 to 608 to the acre. 

At 70 to 80 years— 305 to 410 to the acre. 

At 90 to 100 years— 200 to 360 to the acre. 

The selection of trees to be removed in thinning out forests so as to 
allow the reserves the better chance for development, can best be done 
in summer, when the foliage is the densest, and the effect of shade the 
most apparent. An experienced eye can at such a time more readily 
judge as to what trees are most promising and what can best be taken 
out. 

A recent writer upon practical forestryf in speaking of the proper time 
for thinning a plantation, recommends that it be done early, and assigns 
as a reason that the remaining trees will then have seasonable opportu- 
nity for developing their lower-side branches. He remarks : . 

It is those branches situated upon the lower part of the stem of the tree that 
supply food and nourishment to the roots, and unless they are preserved vital at 
this critical period of the tree's existence, it very soon ceases to develope itself and 
make wood. In fact it ceases to grow to anything like satisfaction at that very 
early period when it should be making wood faster than any other. To the pres- 
ervation of the lower branches of the celebrated larch forests of the Duke of 
Athol, more than anything else, may be attributed their successful growth. The 
larch there were planted 6 feet apart, and that distance, admitting that all the 
trees grew, allowed all the lower branches to grow 3 feet in length all around. 
But as many of them would no doubt decay, and from accident and other causes 
perish, many of the trees would therey prod uce their lower branches twice that 
length, hence the unparalleled results of the growth of the larch in these forests. 

Having wdtnessed so much injury inflicted upon young plantations and some 
entirely ruined by the lower branches being interfered with at a stage of growth 
too early, I would recommend in the strongest possible terms the special attention 
of all who have the management pf plantations to this particular aspect of the 
subject. It is often asked what rule can be given and how it may be known when 
either individual trees or plantations have the exact and proper quantity of 
branches upon them. The rule for this is, as far as any rule can be given, to 
maintain a due proportion of girth to the height of the tree, and these propor- 
tions are girth in inches to feet in height. For example, a tree twelve feet high 
should have a girth a little above the swell of the root of twelve inches, and so of 
larger sizes. When trees attain the height of 30 of 35 feet thinning should be 
entirely discontinued, and frequently it should not be prolonged after the trees 

*"In France, Dahamel and Varenne de Fenille advised a much greater reduction, allowing, in fact, 
almost as much land for an oak as an apple tree in an orchard. The object in view was the 
thicliness of the trees, rather than tlie height, and such broad spreading trunks as ten or eleven 
meters between the trees would produce, could uot fail of yielding an abundance of the crooked 
pieces so maoh prized in ship-buildios." 

f'Oii Thinuini; Plantations, as applicable in Practical Forestry," bv Christopher Young Michie, of 
CuUen House, Cullen. •' Transac. of Highland and Ag. Soc," is76, p. 199. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 85 

are 20 to 25 feet in height, but allow the plantation to grow undisturbed (except 
by cutting down dead or decaying trees) till it is ripe for cutting down and clear- 
ing the ground. There is a danger of old trees having too many as well as too 
few branches ; but there is no danger of young trees having too many, and if the 
rule given should be observed there will be no superfluity of branches at 
any time, for if the proportional girth is too great it can soon (if there are suffi- 
cient trees upon the ground) be reduced. 

The form of the tree, up to the period when the thinning should be discon- 
tinued, should be conical or tapering, both in the stem and general form of the 
tree. After thinning is discontinued the shape of the tree alters, both in the 
stem and branches ; the latter wither and fall off, till only the top is covered, and 
the form gradually changes from a cone to a cylinder. The cause of this is the 
increase of woody" deposites near the live branches, and the decrease of it where 
the branches have fallen off. 

This writer points out various reasons that should prevent late thin- 
ning of evergreen plantations, among which are the insufficiency of 
roots in trees closely planted, and which are not able to support them 
when exposed to the winds, the injury that the sun may cause upon the 
trunks and branches that have been accustomed to the shade, and the 
effect upon the roots when the ground is too much exposed ; although 
all of these parts may in time become accustomed to these different con- 
ditions. He regards the thinning of such forests a delicate and danger- 
ous operation, except when practiced while young, and mentions some 
forests in splendid condition, which had scarcely been trimmed at all. 
In one the trees stood 9 feet apart on an average, some as far as 15 feet, 
and others as close as 2 feet. The market value of such a forest, if the 
trees were all sound, would be at least £300 per acre. The ground was 
a light, sandy gravel and very poor. He advises that all thinning should 
be begun before the side branches touch each other, and that it be con- 
tinued till they are 8 feet apart, after which he would leave them to 
nature to complete their growth. 

As to the larch, our author remarks, " It gains the most by thinning 
and suffers least from it. It is very impatient of confinement, and 
enjoys freedom although it comes late. On the bare, pole-like trees that 
are left, lateral branches will form beyond anything witnessed in other 
forest trees. Unless the trees are sound and healthy, however, no lateral 
growth will take place by thinning." He mentions some stumps of this 
tree that had remained alive more than twenty years after cutting, with- 
out being able to account for the phenomenon. He regards the two 
greatest errors of foresters as " being too late in commencing to thin, and 
continuing the operation too long. It does much good if done early, 
and equally much harm if done late." 

MEANS FOR DESTRUCTION OF INSECTS INFESTING TREES. 

Among the methods practiced with success for the destruction of 
insects upon fruit trees, and applicable to forest trees, may be mentioned 
the following : 

Building fires in the evening, to attract miliars and other insects, which 
faU into the flames and perish. 

Jarring the trees by striking them with a heavy piece of scantling, 
padded at the end to prevent injury to the bark. Cloths should be 
spread under the trees to catch whatever falls. Some caterpillars that 
spin down on a silk fiber, may be swept down with a broom and 
destroyed. 

Smearing the bark with tar, molasses or printers' ink, or other viscid 



86 - FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

substance, or what is better, wrapping papers or cloths around the trunk, 
and ajDplying the tar to these instead of the bark. The substance should 
be renewed as it becomes dry. 

Surrounding the trunks with leaden troughs iilled with oil, coal tar, 
or other liquids. Applying discs of tin, that, sloping downwards, pre- 
vent insects from passing. Binding locks of cotton wool around the 
trunks, &c. 

Washing the trunks and large branches with soft soap, or strong soap 
suds, or lye, or whitewashing with lime. 

A wash composed of one pound of flowers of sulphur and a peck of 
quicklime, mixed in a close vessel with a sufficient quantity of hot 
water to make it of ; the consistence of common whitewash, has been 
used with advantage as a remedy against insects and mildew in forest 
and fruit trees. It should be applied when freshly made, in April, 
using a whitewash brush. 

Dusting the leaves of trees with lime, or with powdered hellebore, 
when the dew was on, has been mentioned as a remedy against leaf- 
eating insects. 

Another mode of protecting trees from insects that crawl up the bark, 
consists in fastening a rope around the tree and nailing a strip of tin 
four inches wide around the rope so as to project above and below. The 
females of the insect whose larva is the cankerworm (Anisopteryx vernata) 
will lay her eggs under the rope, where they may be killed by apply- 
ing kerosene. 

Digging around the tree to kill or expose the larvse to frost has been 
tried with success. Others scatter corn around the roots, and allow hogs 
to root among it, thus turning up the- soil, and doubtless destroying 
many of the puppse. Late plowing, by exposure to frosts and to birds, 
Avill assist in destroying insects on their nests. 

Hand-picking the seeking of cocoons and nests of insects, especially 
in winter. Sweeping or burning down the nests of insects and seeking 
and destroying them in their burrows, have been practiced with success. 

The vapor of benzine has been proposed as a remedy against insects 
infesting wood work. The injection of mineral salts and of creosote, &c., 
is a preventive against insect damages to timber. The sap-wood of white 
hickory, so liable to injury from boring insects, even after worked into 
spokes or made into carriages, is sometimes protected by these chemical 
processes. 

The apple-leaf crumpler sometimes contains the eggs of parasitic 
insects which would hatch, and by multiplying diminish the injuries 
done by this insect. It is therefore recommended to gather the affected 
leaves, and instead of burning them throw them on the ground in a bare 
place. The parasitic insects would hatch and be saved, while such of 
the noxious kind as hatched would perish before reaching a feeding place. 

But many of the methods above enumerated are applicable only in a 
small way to trees in nurseries or favorite shade trees, and in forest cul- 
ture we must seek relief from other sources, or, as sometimes happens, 
stand helpless and witness the great injuries done without hope of relief.* 

*In speaking of insects, we must distinguish between friends and foes, and not regard our allies as 
enemies, however disagreeable they at times become. The ant is treated by the German forester as 
his friend, knowing as he does the services which these little insects render. Besides furnishing in its 
eggs a dainty food to many kinds of song-birds, it pursues tlie larvae of leaf-eating insects with great 
avidity, mounting to the highest branches in pursuit of its prey, and destroying these destructive par- 
asites of trees in great abundance. A nest of ants introduced in the midst of a plantation of cab- 
bages has been known to protect the plants from the worms that were destroying ii.— "■Revue des 
Eaux et Farets, xiii, 303. 



FOKEST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 87 

Immense damages are also committed in fields and gardens upon 
grains and fruits, and here, as in the forest, there is often evidence that 
an increase is often caused by killing off the birds. 

SHELTER BELTS, WIND BREAKS, &c. 

A wind screen, if close, affords some protection on the windward side, 
by the calm which it produces. It is noticed that sheep and cattle will 
sometimes find shelter on the front side of a screen. 

A wrier in the New England Farmer (vi, 350), in noticing shelter, and 
its effect upon farm stock, says : 

It is indeed astonishing how much better cattle tlirive in fields, even when 
moderately sheltered, than they do in an open, exposed country. In the breeding 
of cattle, a sheltered farm, or a sheltered corner of a farm, is a thing much prized; 
and in instances where fields are taken by the season for the purpose of fattening 
cattle, those most sheltered never fail to bring the highest rents. 

In the grazing regions of Texas, cattle seek the timber on the approach 
of a storm, and stay there while it continues, and on the western plains 
they will retreat before a storm a long distance to gain shelter. 

The freshness of pastures interspersed with trees, is well known in the 
dairy regions of the north, and is doubtless partly due to the shelter that 
trees afford to the winter snows. 

The prevalence of dry southwesterly winds in the Western States, has 
suggested a practice, quite advantageous in fruit trees, of leaning the 
trees towards that point, so as better to resist the wind, as well as to 
shade the trunk from the sun. It is also found a good practice to allow 
the tops of fruit trees to grow low, so as better to resist the drying effects 
of the wmd and sun. The same reasons would lead to a like prac- 
tice with the outside rows of forest trees, especially on the sides of a 
grove most exposed. It would be unnecessary in the interior, as, if 
properly set, the trees would shade one another sufaciently for aU pur- 
poses, after they had got w^ell started. 

Dr. John A. Warder, in a paper read before the Northern Illinois Hor- 
ticultural society,* in speaking of shelter for fruit trees, says : 

Evergreens may be planted here and there through the orchard with very great 
advantage. For this purpose the most robust varieties should be selected, such as 
the Scotch and Austrian pines, and the beautiful Norway spruce, from Europe, or 
our own native, the noble silver pine, the red or Xorway pine, the Banksiana, the 
white spruce, the common red cedar, and arbor vitse. All are robust and hardy, 
rapid growers, and valuable for shelter and for timber, but screens are what we 
need. A single row of such trees outside will afford a great deal of protection 
from the winds after a few years, indeed, from the first ; but a closely-planted belt 
of two or three rows will be much more effective. These should not be set too 
near the orchard trees ; two rods may be allowed, or, if closer, the outer rows of 
the apples can be cut out in a few years to make room for these nurses when they 
may require more space. The evergreens may be set in double or triple rows, 
and alternately, so that every three shall be opposite the space in the next row. 
In planting a triple row, it is well to set the Piiius strobus in the middle, with Nor- 
way or white spruce, or red cedar, on either side, planting these from 8 to 10 feet 
apart * * * The hedges should not be set too closely to those shelter belts, 
especially where they are allowed to grow high for screens. At one rod they will 
soon interfere with the trees, so that a space of two rods may be better— outside 
the belt. In large plantations it may be well to set rows of evergreens across the 
orchard, dividing it into two or more sections. For this purpose, a single row of 
Norway spruces will produce a very fine effect, or the American arbor vitse can be 
used as an evergreen hedge, and kept to a height of 10 or 12 feet, if desirable. 

* "Transactions," fourth meeting, p. 68. 



88 FOREST TREE PLANTERS MANUAL. 

Both these plants are eminently well adapted for close shelters, and will bear 
the shears, which help to make tliem a perfect screen and wind break. Deciduoxis 
trees are also very desirable as shelter belts, and for the sake of immediate effect the 
quick-growing kinds are preferred, such as the soft maple, or even the white willow, 
but more especially the European larch. * * * These should be planted pretty 
thickly, say 5 or 6 feet apart, and in strips of three or 4 rods wide, to produce 
their best effects, both as shelters and for timber, for which they are highly 
recommended. Do not be misled by the swampy habits of the native tamarack, 
nor induced to set the larch in the sloughs, which should be planted with willows. 

Protection to Nurseries; French Experience. — Screens or wind breaks (says Car- 
riere*) are indispensable to a nursery, as well to shield the plants from the hot 
sun, as to shelter other kinds from cold in winter. Their direction will vary 
according to the contour of the ground, but they should almost always run east 
and west. Wind breaks, according to local circumstanc^es, may be oblique, either 
to the north or south, and it may be necessary to have them in a line between 
these points, for the climatic conditions under which the nursery is placed, and 
surrounding objects, such as a mountain, a grove, a river or a lake, or large build- 
ings, may determine the course of prevailing winds, and observation alone can 
decide as to which are the most prejudicial. Having settled upon the direction 
of the lines, the next thing to determine is the species with which they should 
be planted. Some kinds are preferable to others, and they vary with the soil and 
climate. We always prefer evergreen trees ; but these are for the most part of 
slow growth, and when the intention is only to shelter the nursery in summer 
against the ardor of solar heat, the choice is left among the diciduous kinds of 
rapid growth, which do not shed their branches too near the ground, and of 
which the foliage and aspect is sutRciently ornamental. There is another consid- 
eration that is not less important. We should not select trees with long, tracing 
roots, which, by spreading, so to speak, " eat up the soil," by robbing the plants 
even when growing in pots. In these respects we have two species of the Tam- 
arix that unite almost all the good qualities required, the T. tetranda and T. Indica. 
These trees are very accommodating as to soil, have a hardiness well tried, and a 
very rapid growth — endure prolonged drought without injury, and appear indif- 
ferent to excess of moisture. Their roots are small, close, and but little spread- 
ing ; they bear trimming, and their elegant foliage of light, feathery spray form 
plumes of most pleasing effect, while their blossoms of rose, flesh colored, or 
almost white tint, in spikes or branching panicles, present a most agreeable aspect. 
The first of these blooms in April and May, and the other toward the end of 
summer and in autumn. The tamarisk grows easily from slips, which may be 
set from November to February, and will form the first season shoots from 1 to 2 
meters high. They should be set about 8 inches apart, and may be cut back 
when 20 inches high to make them thicken up. Sometimes a trellis of grape- 
vines will answer every purpose of a screen for young fruit trees. 

But, as we remarked at first, the evergreen species are generally employed as a 
screen, and of the conifers the Biota orientalis is particularly suitable when the 
soil is light, warm, and but little calcareous. In places where the soil is more 
moist and more clayey, and the climate more severe, the Thuya occidentalis is 
much more hardy. The common yew {Taxus baccata) is also very precious as a 
wind break. Its foliage is very dense, and of a green so deep that it borders 
closely upon black, and the perfect docility with which it bears clipping renders 
it a most valuable tree for a shelter hedge. We sometimes employ the com- 
mon pitch tree (Picea excelsa), but this tends to grow to a large tree, and readily 
sheds its lower branches. The red cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) is also sometimes 
used as a wind break, and in proper soils produces a fine effect. In many dis- 
tricts of southern France the pyramidal cypress, (Oupressus fastigiata) is used to 
advantage. 

Of the evergreen shrubs other than conifers, we have the box (Buxus semper- 
vireps), evergreen oak {Quercus ilex), the holly, the Buplevrum fi-uticostim, the 
Rhamnus oleifolius, the Aucuba japonica, and the Japanese spindle tree {Evovymus 
japonica). The latter may be used when we need shelter of limited extent, for 
they are generally of low growth. In some places we may plant the Lauro-cerasus 
vulgaris, colchica, and lusitanica; and in other cases may employ shrubs with semi- 
persistent leaves, as the Rhamnus hybridus, Ligustrwm japonicum, ovalifoUum, and 
vulgare. In some privileged localities of southern and southwestern France, we 

'fPepinieres, p. 88, 41. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 89 

may plant the Ehamnus alaternus, Arbutus uredo, Viburrmm Hnus, and a host of 
other species. 

The breadth of space to be reserved between the Hnes of shelter varies some- 
what according to the use, but it should be never less than 2 metres lietween, 
because the paths for service would be always of about this width. If there be 
no necessity of using the ground sparingly, it would be better to give them greater 
width, so that the plants sheltered may be a little away_ from the screen, and it 
would be still better if a path could be allowed on both sides. 

Timber-belts for Farm Protection in Kansas. 

Mr. W. Marlatt, of Manhattan, Kansas, in a paper read before the 
State Horticultural Society, in 1875, after alluding to the frequent and 
severe losses of fruit and forest trees in Kansas, and condemning alto- 
gether any attempt at planting until the soil was as thoroughly prepared 
as for corn, he says : 

With my present experience as to the peculiarities of the soil and climate of 
Kansas, I would plant timber only in the form of shelter-belts for liie protection 
of farm crops, the orchard, the stock -range, and the home and its surroundings, 
being especially careful to shelter the latter from the north, northwest, and north- 
east winds, leaving the south and east, particularly, open to the sunshine and 
south winds, which are nearly always warm in winter and cool in summer. By 
planting the shelter-belts on the higher and more exposed ground, where prac- 
ticable, the value of the farm may be greatly enhanced at a comparatively small 
outlay, aesthetically as well as practically. From experience and observation, I 
am of the firm belief that if 40 acres in every quarter section were thus occupied 
by judiciously located timber-belts, the remaining three-fourths would produce 
niore than all of it would without the protection thus afforded. I have seen the 
soil in exposed situations blown away to a depth of 6 inches, or as deep as the 
land has been plowed, in a single season. An effective shelter-belt would not 
only remedy this evil, but would serve largely as a preventive of drought ; first, 
by measurably warding off the dry, hot winds that sometimes sweep over the 
country as a blighting, withering curse ; and, secondly, as a shelter for the snow 
that is otherwise blown away into the revines and hollows where it is not need- 
ed ; and, again, in breaking the force of the fierce storms that almost every season 
do more or less injury to the growing corn and other farm crops. 

I recommend the Cottonwood for timber-belts, rather than some other more 
valuable species of wood, from the fact that it takes kindly to our prairie soil, 
grows rapidly and tall, and is yet able to withstand the force of the winds ; and,, 
on the whole, seems to fill the bill more nearly than any other at hand just now. 
To render this shelter more effectual, I would plant out a single row of box-elder, 
or some other spreading or low-heading tree on either side of the cottonwood 
belt. I recommend the box elder for this purpose, from the fact that it is never 
stripped of its leaves in summer, not even by the omnivorous hopper. As 
this belt attains to age and size, it must be systematically thinned out, by remov- 
ing from year to year a certain number of the less likely or less thrifty trees, else 
in the course of time you will find them dying out en masse for want of sufficient 
nourishment to keep up the vital force necessary for their continuous growth and 
well-being. As they are removed thus gradually, other varieties of forest trees 
may with success and profit be made to take the place thus vacated, and for this 
purpose, where they can be had easily, I would especially recommend red cedar. 
At all events, in planting a grove, stick to our native forest trees, rather than any 
of foreign growth, however highly they may be extolled by parties interested in 
their sale, or without an experimental knowledge as to their adaptability to our 
peculiar soil and climate. 

A few words as to the best mode of planting such a belt must suffice for this 
phase of the subject. Supposing the ground to be in proper condition, and the 
trees ready to hand, with team and plow strike a straight furrow through the 
center of the piece to be planted, and back-furrow three rounds, going 8 to 10 
inches deep. Then with an armful of small trees pass along in the furrow, and at 
every 4 feet stoop down and place a tree in the loose soil thrown up at the last 
round, letting the top lean toward the ridge. Then turn on a furrow, and so on 
at every fourth furrow, until a dozen or more rows have been thus put in their 
place. Then passing along each row, straighten up each tree with the hand, and at 



90 - FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

the same time press the earth firmly about it with the feet. In this way, with 
one man to run the team, and two others to put the trees in place and straighten 
them lip, two acres may be planted with 5,000 trees in a day, at a cost, aside from 
prociaring the trees, of not more than $5. In this manner, the farm, when com- 
paratively level, may be surrounded and intersected, where necessary, with shel- 
ter belts, at a comparatively small cost, and the value of the place may be 
doubled in five years. 

In orchard and small fruit culture, I consider protection of some sort as abso- 
lutely essential to success. I have found most kinds of small fruits doing best when 
partially sheltered from the hot sun ; while the sad effects of the burning south- 
w^est winds two summers ago is but too apparent in nearly all the orchards of 
Kansas to-day. In my own, I have found, generally speaking, the last damage 
done where most eflectually sheltered on the south and w^est.* 

In asserting the value of wind-breaks to growing crops, or as a shelter 
for stock, it is impossible to appraise the benefit pecuniarily with any- 
thing like the exactness with which we measure and sell the actual pro- 
ducts of the forest. We may, however, sometimes arrive at a close 
approximation by comparing the differences shown where the protection 
is present or absent. In illustrating this point, Mr. 0. B. Galusha, of 
Illinois, has presented some instructive examples :t 

In the year 1862, at the time when spring wheat and oats, in the northern por- 
tion of the State, were just past their bloom, and a portion of the grains in the 
milky state, we w^ere visited by a storm from the northwest, which sw^ept over 
this portion of the State, prostrating nearly all the grain not sheltered by timber, 

* * * In one locality a single line of broad and tall willows, closely planted, 
proved a sufficient check to the wind, so that a field of wheat adjoining it on the 
east stood erect and was harvested with a machine, while in exposed situations 
the shrunken grain, if saved at all, was often gathered by the slow and tedious 
process of hooking it up with scythes. Many thousand acres were left to dry, 
and were burned upon the ground, which two or three weeks before had prom- 
ised abundant crops. The extra expense of gathering the grain of that harvest 
could not have been less than 50 cents per acre on the Avhole amount harvested. 
I traveled quite extensively over this portion of the State before and soon after 
the harvest of that year, and am convinced that one-half the value of the wheat 
and oats in the territory passed over by that storm w^as destroyed by it. There 
were sown in that year as per census reports, in the 30 counties lying north of the 
Burlington, Peoria and Logansport Railroad, about 1,200,000 acres of wheat, and 
at least one-fourth as many of oats. Allowing one-tenth of these crops to have 
been protected by timber, w^e find the loss to have been equal to 540,000 acres of 
wheat and 130,000 acres of oats. Computing the wheat at 15 bushels per acre and 
the value at 50 cents per bushel, the oats at 30 bushels per acre and price 20 cents 
per bushel, we have the sum of $4,860,000 as the cash value of property in these 
two crops alone, which was destroyed in a single storm in an area of a little more than 
one-third of our State. Allowing 150,000 acres to have been burned, or not har- 
vested, and adding to the amount of loss per acre the remainder of the nine- 
tenths (lodged-grain), equal to 1600,000, it SAvellsthe amount to the enormous sum 
of $5,460,000. Let us see how much it would cost to plant and cultivate screens to 
prevent such losses. A double row of white or golden willows, with trees in the 
second row set opposite the spaces in the first, planted upon the west side of every 
80-acre lot, would doubtless prove sufficient, as they would, at the age of 12 years, 
form a dense w^all of foliage about 40 feet high, and would, of course, increiise in 
size for many years thereafter. These would cost per mile of screen, about as 
follows : Average value of tw^o acres of land, at $40 per acre, $80 ; preparation of 
the soil and planting with strong cuttings, $10 ; cultivating the first two vears, $20 ; 
making a total cost, witli purchase money of the land, $110.. After two years no 
care will be needed, save a mulch of refuse straw, to be renewed once in two or 
three years, the cost of which will be more than repaid in the partial protection 
which the trees will render previous to the twelfth year. 

There are in the 30 counties referred to about 16,625 sections of prairie land. 

•"Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society" for 1875, p. II3 

f'Lecture at the Illinois Industrial University in 1869, published in the second Report of its trus- 
tees," p. 356. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 91 

This will require 66,500 miles of screen if planted as above proposed, making the 
entire cost ^7,315,000. Thus we see, that without estimating the immense damage 
done to fruit and other crops, the wheat and oats destroyed in that storm would, 
if saved, have paid about three-fourths the entire expense of growing timber 
belts throughout that entire territory. 

I think it may be safely estimated, that an average of one-twelfth part of all 
our crops of grain and large fruits are destroyed by violent winds, which such a 
system of protection, or its equivalent in groves, would so far check as to prevent 
the destruction. If this is true, such protection would save to the husbandman 
and orchardist its entire cost every two, or at most three, years. Such protec- 
tion, too, would, by causing the snow to remain spread evenly over the surface, 
as before hinted, enable the farmer to raise winter wheat in localities where it is 
impossible now to do so. If we add to the benefits of the culture already consid- 
ered those far-reaching and incalculably valuable climatic influences which would 
flow therefrom, we must all admit the necessity of commencing this great en- 
terprise at once, and prosecuting it with vigor. 

I do not introduce this plan of planting straight belts of trees, a quarter of a 
mile apart, because it is the most desirable plan which can be adoj^ted, for no man 
of taste would regard it as such. The eye would soon tire of such stiffness and 
monotony in the landscape. Tree-planting may be so planned and conducted as 
to give beauty to the landscape, and at the same time secure nearlj^ all the com- 
bined benefits of protection to crops, timber for uses in the mechanic arts, and 
those climatic influences which we all regard as so important. Of course no 
rules can be given for such tree planting. Generally where the surface is some- 
what undulating (for we have no hills), the planting should be done mainly upon 
the higher portions of the farms, and along the Avater courses. Where the sur- 
face is level, belts may be planted upon the north and west of the farms, with 
groves uj)on the least valuable portions. These last would intercept the straight 
lines and give diversity. But if each prairie farmer were to follow his own tastes, 
or adapt his planting to secure his greatest profit in timber or protection to his 
own farm, planting about one-tenth of his land with trees, it is probal^le that all 
the desirable ends which we have been considering will be gained, and the land- 
scape sufficiently diversified to be pleasing to the eye. 

Here then * * * we have two pictures presented to us. In the one, we 
look into the future, and see wide spread desolation, an extended treeless coun- 
try, visited bj^ destructive storms, by severe drouths, with its streams dried up, 
and food for man and beast in such scarcity that the poor can scarcely obtain a 
supply. In the other, we see a charming landscape, a rich fertile country, a pop- 
ulation enjoying all the blessings which fiow from peace and plenty. 

The following suggestions concerning shelter-belts are offered by Messrs. 
H. M. Thompson and Son, of Milwaukee, Wis. : 

It has been found that belts from 7 to 8 rods in width are, all things taken to- 
gether, the best. These belts should be planted on the outside with some ever- 
green whose roots strike deep into the ground and do not sj^read near the surface, 
and whose leaves and branches will afford protection from the winter winds. In 
the center can be placed the deciduous trees. If, however, the farmer wishes first 
to experiment, and should think belts of this width entail too much cost and labor, 
belts of two or three rows will be found to make remunerative returns, and even 
one row planted, say not more than 6 feet apart, will give rich returns in increase 
of crops, and add very much to the attractions of the estate. The trees for plant- 
ing should be those best adapted to the soil and situation, and will vary much 
with different localities. There are, however certain trees, such as the larch, 
Scotch and pitch pine, that are so well adapted to dry soils, rich or poor, and the 
Norway spruce, Scotch, Austrian, and white pines, American arbor-vitae and ash, 
which are best for moist, rich soils, and which so fully meet the wants of the 
farmer that they should always form a large portion of his planting. Belts com- 
posed of Scotch pine, Norway spruce, white ash, and European larch, planted from 
the outside of the belt, in the order named, have been found to meet, in almost 
every particular, the need for which thefj^ are planted, and to afford to the farmer 
every protection in the way of timber that he can want. The value of such a 
timber-belt is felt very early, and cuttings for stakes, hoop-poles, bean-poles, fuel, 
&c., begin much earlier than may be thought ; while the after-products of hop- 
poles, telegraph-poles, railroad-ties, and lumber for general use, follow year by 
year, and are a constant annual source of profit. 



92 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

Professor H. H. McAfee, formerly of the Iowa Agricultural College, a 
close observer in forest-culture, in an article on shelter-belts,* remarks 
that prairie-forms need shelter most on the west, next on the north, next 
on the south, while their usefulness on the east is not so great, though 
sufficient to call for planting. A good combination for an evergreen belt 
is 2 or 3 rows of white pine for center, 2 rows of Scotch or Austrian pine 
on each side, and 2 rows of red cedar or arbor-vitae outside of these, 
making 10 or 11 rows, and giving, b}^ different rates of growth, a belt with 
a conical cross-section, and limbs from the ground up. Another good 
evergreen combination would be Norway spruce for center, white spruce 
next, and black spruce and red cedar or arbor-vitae outside. These kinds 
were hardy in Iowa, except in too great drought. A shelter-belt of cheap 
soft wood may be made of two rows of gray or white willow, flanked by 
one row of Lombardy poplar on each side, rows 8 feet apart. WiUow 
alone is apt to spread too much, and this poplar alone is apt to lose its 
side branches, but thus combined, the poplar, which is always erect, 
holds the willow up and the willow grows twigs enough to make a fair 
barrier. But any kind of tree, except perhaps such thinly -foliaged trees 
as the walnut and coffee-nut, will make fair shelter-belts, if enough width 
is given them. At least 10 rows of any of the maples, birches,"poplars, 
or other common woods should be put in the belts, or 8 rows of white or 
scarlet oak, which holds leaves in winter. Where road-side planting is 
done to obviate snow-drifting in winter or to furnish shade and shelter 
in summer, less rows are needed. 

Judge C. E. Whiting, of Monona County, Iowa, in reporting to the 
State Horticultural Society in 1876 (p. 156), mentioned that he had on 
his farm of 1,800 acres about 40 acres of timber in belts around his fields, 
varying from single rows to 20 rows, and of different ages from 18 years 
down to 1 ; but mostly from 5 to 12 years. In regard to the influence of 
these belts on the growth of crops, he says : 

As my groves increase in hight, I still find that the visible influence of this pro- 
tection — with almost mathematical precision — -amounts to one rod on the ground 
to one foot height of the tree. AVhether from cause or from accident, I will not 
[)retend to say, but leave it for the entomologist to decide — I record, that during 
the great grasshopper visitations of 1873 and 1876, all my fields surrounded by 
timber escaped almost wholly uninjured. The same was true of the farms opened 
in our Missouri bottom timber. Will Professor Bessey please inform us if a Col- 
orado locust, with an eye to beauty and utility, respects a field surrounded by green 
growing trees ? We knoM' from long experience that the summer storms, the 
early frosts, and the fierce, unrelenting winter blizzards do pass these fields by 
uninjured and unscathed, and why should not a locust as well ? I would make 
no rnaterial change in my order of planting; on our treeless prairies, Avhere tim- 
ber is wanted quick for fuel, shelter, and other purposes, the cottonwood, in my 
estimation, still stands kiy^g among all our native trees. I am now using my round 
cottonwood posts cut from my young thrifty-growing trees, peeled, seasoned, and 
tlie posts set in the ground, boiled a few minutes each in coal-tar, at an expense 
of about one cent each, that bid fair to outlast oak not so treated. Maple, willow, 
ash, and walnut should follow in the order named, the latter to be planted on the 
deepest soils. 

Need of wind-breaks for the protection of human life. 

A winter seldom passes without deaths from storms on the prairies of 
the Northwest. Mr. James T. Mott, in an article on timber culture in 
the Iowa Horticultural Report of 1872 (p. 109), after 17 years' residence 
in Iowa, says: 

*"Iowa Horticultural Report," 1875, p. 292. 



I have many times wondered how it could be that people were so easily lost in 
these storms ; why it was that a man in good health, strong in limb, and well 
clothed, could not go a few rods from his house to the barn, to care for his stock, 
without danger of death ; why whole sleigh-loads of people were frozen to death 
within a hundred rods of dwellings, and this in the same location where I was 
living, But lately it has been my fortune (or I thought at the time misfortune) 
to be caught in one of these storms in Minnesota ; and it took only a short time 
for me to see through the whole thing. I felt the wind first blowing softly from 
the south ; in 30 minutes it changed to a fierce gale from the west, bringing with 
it a bank of snow that would compare to the rush of water as the flood-gates are 
opened in a mill-race, and with a force that no man or team could travel against 
it a mile, as steady as in a bellows run by machinery, being filled with snow as • 
fine as the finest dust, and so thick one could not see 10 feet, filling the eyes and 
nostrils of man and beast. The storm lasted three days, * * * and the news 
is of hundreds dead ; people frozen in stage-coaches, whole sleigh-loads returning 
home from town, men standing dead with hand on the stable door latch, others 
that saved themselves by burrowing in snow banks— little children lost going 
home from school, passengers in railroad-cars two days without food, &c. * * * 
More people have been frozen within the last year, in Northwest Iowa and West 
Minnesota, than were ever murdered by the Indians in those counties since their 
settlement. * * * The people are now petitioning their legislatures for some 
kind of protection from these storms, asking that wire fences and storm houses be 
built along the traveled roads— asking them to do something for their safety. I 
see none that would do but timber planting. It alone would stop these terrible 
winds, modify the climate, and furnish land marks for the traveler. 

Screens of woodland as a barrier against the progress of insects. 

The Hon. J. G. Knapp, of Madison, Wis., in a lecture delivered at the 
university course at Rockford, 111., in February, 1870, notices the influ- 
ence of forests in intercepting the progress of insects and the spread of 
contagious and destructive fungi. He says : 

The chinch-bug of the prairies was lately as much dreaded by those who knew 

their ravages , but these can never traverse a belt of thick woods seven 

or eight rods in width to devastate an adjoining field. The cool damp soil of such 
a belt presents an impassable barrier to their march, the same as to the grass- 
hopper. 

Citing from I. T. Thomas, he continues : 

Another important advantage has been occasionally aflbrded by the shelter of 
wood-lands. It is well known that rust in wheat, is commonly most prevalent on 
low and mucky lands ; yet, at other times, and in its most virulent form, it seems 
borne on the wind, and often destroys thousands of acres on all kinds of soil in 
one sweeping blight. An instance of this kind occured in Northern Indiana, in 
1840. Early and late sown, on compact and spongy soil, on hill and dale, cleared 
land and prairie, were all alike affected. In every instance, however, where the 
crop was sheltered by woodland, it was least injured. An extensive farmer in 
Ontario county, New York, informed me, some years ago, that out of two hundred 
acres of promising wheat, which he then had growing, all was completely de- 
stroyed, except those portions sheltered by woods, the total loss being four or five thou- 
sand dollars, most of which, he believes, would have been saved, had his land 
been protected by timber belts. 

Instruction in forest-culture recommended at the State Agricultural College, at 

Amherst. 

The executive committee of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, 
(Amherst), in a report made in February, 1876, included the following 
recommendation, which, being fully discussed, was adopted: 

It is also recommended, that some instruction be given in forestry, both theo' 
retically and practically, and that special attention be paid to the raising of forest 
trees from seed, their care and treatment in the nursery, their permanent planting 
in various portions of the farm, and the subsequent care of the plantations. The 



94 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

time is not far distant, when every farmer in the country, will, in his own inter- 
est, be obliged to give some attention to the subject of tree-planting, and such a 
course as is here recommended, will be of advantage to the students, and to the 
State at large. Similar considerations apply to the raising of fruit-trees. A nursery of 
reliable standard fruit-trees, adapted to one section, ought to be a source of some 
income to the institution. 

Bristol County. — Mr. Morrill Allen, of Pembroke, Mass., in a letter 
relating to tree-planting, written December, 1874, says : 

A man in Bristol county, about fifty years ago, planted a field somewhat ex- 
hausted with acorns _; when the young trees were two or three inches high, he 
plowed and hoed, as in a field of Indian corn ; the trees grew, to the astonishment 
of the whole neighborhood, and in less than forty years, were ripe for the ax. About 
a century since, there was an experiment in this town in planting the white-oak 
for ship-timber, the success of which ought to have encouraged frequent repetition. 
The grove was in cutting for timber thirty years since, and a man between seventy 
and eighty years old told me, that in his boyhood, he assisted in planting these 
trees. It is not to the existing generation so helpless an undertaking as some 
would represent it, to plant forest-trees, even those of slow growth. I recollect meas- 
uring the circumference of an oak tree, in West Newbury, the acorn, of which 
was planted by Benjamin Poore, who is yet comparatively, a young man, and I 
thing it measured 27 inches. It is a well proportioned, handsome tree. Had he 
planted at the same time fifteen acres of similar soil, it would have become before 
now, an inexhaustible wood-lot for the use of one family. 

_ The general elevation of this district above sea-level, is about 80 feet ; 
highest point, 210 ; prevailing winds south-west, and rain-fall, 46 inches. 
The native timber consisted of several species of oak, the walnut, maple, 
pine, and hemlock, used for lumber. A variety of trees for fuel and cab- 
inet-work, are found in the forests. There has been but little clearing 
within the last century ; the woods have simply been cut off and allowed 
to grow again. In a few cases, forest-planting has been done on a small 
scale, but so recently, that no result has been reached, though the plant- 
ings are usually in a healthy condition. Fires set by locomotives, or by 
careless persons, sometimes do a great deal of damage. — {Elisha Shade, 
Somerset, Bristol county, Mass. 

Having been, for thirty years past, more or less engaged in buying woodland 
and cutting it oflf, I wish to state, that I know, from careful observation, that aii 
acre of good land, where there is a mixture of the several kinds of oak and 
walnut (hickory), cut of: while young and thrifty, will produce, during the first 20 
or 25 years, a cord of wood yearly. I believe, that most kinds of hard wood are 
worth 20 or 30 per cent, more, for fuel, at the age of 25 years, than at 75. — {A. M. 
Lie, of South Attleborough, to George B. Emerson : Trees of Massachusetts, p. 26.) 

The Massachusetts Society for Promotion of Agriculture, in April, 1876, 
offered premiums of $1,000, $600, and $400, for first, second, and third 
best plantations of not less than five acres, to be made of European larch, 
except in Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket counties, in which the 
Scotch pine or the Corsican fir, or both the latter, must be used. The 
plantations must originally consist of at least 2,700 trees to the acre, and 
the land must be poor, worn out, or unfit for agricultural use. 

They also offered $600 and $400 for first and second best plantations of 
five acres, or more, of American white ash, at first having 5,000 trees to 
the acre. 

The plantation must be made in the spring of 1877, and the prizes are 
to be awarded in the summer of 1887. The directions for planting were 
as follows. 

Larch and pine. 

When the nature of the soil will permit, shallow furrows 4 feet apart should be 
run one way across the field to be planted. This is best done during the autumn 
previous to planting. Then by planting in the furrows, and inserting the plants 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 95 

4 feet apart in the rows, the whole land will be covered with plants standing 4 feet 
apart each way. Planted at this distance, 2,720 plants will be required to the 
acre. On hilly, rocky land, which is especially recommended for the cultivation 
of the European larch, and where it is impossible to run furrows, it will be only 
necessary to open with a spade, holes large enough to admit the roots of the plants, 
care being taken to set them as near 4 feet each way as the nature of the ground 
will admit. In very exposed situations on the sea-coast, it is recommended to 
plant as many as 5,000 trees to the acre, the plants being inserted more thickly on 
the outsides of the plantations in order that the young trees may furnish shelter 
to each other. 

It is imperative to plant the larch as early in the season as the ground can be worked. 
No other tree begins to grow so early, and if the operation of transplanting it is 
delayed until the new shoots have pushed, it is generally followed by the destruc- 
tion of the plant. 

The Scotch and Corsican pines can be planted up to the 1st of May. 

Ash. 

Land in condition to grow corn or an average hay crop, is suited to produce a 
profitable crop of white ash. Deep, moist land, rather than that which is light 
and gravelly, should be selected for this tree. The land should be jjlowed, har- 
rowed, and made as mellow as possible during the autumn previous, that the trees 
inay be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring. 

As soon as the frost is out, mark out the field with furrows 4 feet apart, and in- 
sert the trees 2 feet apart in the rows. This will give 5,445 plants to the acre, 
which, at the end of ten years, must be thinned one-half These thinnings are 
valuable for barrel-hoops, &c. 

It is recommended to cultivate between the rows for two or three years to keep 
down the weeds and prevent the soil from baking. At the end of that time the 
ground will probably be entirely shaded by the trees, and further cultivation will 
not be necessary. 

General directions for tree planting. 

Be careful not to expose the roots of trees to the wind and sun more than is 
necessary during the operation of transplanting. More failures in tree-ijlanting 
arise from carelessness in this particular than from any other cause. 

To prevent this, carry the trees to the field to be planted in bundles covered 
with mats ; lay them down, and cover the roots with wet loam, and only remove 
them from the bundles as they are actually required for planting. 

In planting, the roots should be carefully spread out and the soil worked among 
them with the hand. 

When the roots are covered press the earth firmly about the plant with the 
foot. 

Insert the plant to the depth at which it stood before being transplanted. 

Select, if possible, for tree-i^lanting a cloudy or a rainy day. It is better to plant 
after the middle of the clay than before it. 

All young plantations must he protected from cattle and other browsing animals— 
the greatest enemies, next to man, to young trees and the sisread of forest growth 

Experiments of D. C. Scofield in T^ee-planting, at Elgin, III."^' 

This plantation was begun in 1858, with imported and American seed- 
lings and seeds ; and is on a rich, dry, undulating prairie, with black 
loam passing into clay at a depth of 4 to 6 feet, where it is underlaid by 
coarse gravel. It consisted, at first, of about 12,000 trees'; 8,000 set from 
1858 to 1862, and 4,000 in 1866. The plants were usually from 8 to 12 
inches long, were transplanted in nursery rows, and in two years to their 
permanent places. The ground had been cultivated three years from 
prairie sod, and was well pulverized. The planting was done in furrows 
of proper depth, level places of proper depth being prepared by the 
spade, and care being taken to prevent drying of the roots. The larch 

♦Communicated to the Horticultural Society of Northern Illinois, and published with the "Transac. 
of 111. Hort. Soc, 1876, p. 284. 



96 FOUEST TREE PLANTERS* MANUAL. 

(forming the greater part) were 2 to 4 feet high when transplanted, and 
the evergreens Ij to 3 feet. Having been transplanted once or twice in 
the nursery, the}' were well stocked with roots. They were cultivated 
three to six years, and beans planted in the wider spaces ; and from this 
time, excejDting the black walnuts and elms, they protected themselves. 
These and the white ash needed longer cultivation on account of later 
leaving. 

The varieties j^lanted were the Scotch, black Austrian, and white pines, 
Norway and white spruces, American and Siberian arbor- vitae, hemlock, 
and European and American silver fir ; and of deciduous trees, the black 
walnut, silver-leaf, sugar, and red maples, box-elder, EngHsh, red, and 
white American elms, chestnut, horse-chestnut, European mountain 
ash, white ash, redbud (of Southern Illinois), European and American 
larch, and cj^press. 

European larch,. — This is now 28 to 32 feet high, with diameters varying accord- 
ing to density, the most being 14 inches at 1 foot from the ground. Nearly every 
tree grew ; average annual growth the first nine years, 2^ feet. On the 19th of 
October, 1869, a severe frost, coming before the toj)S had hardened, checked them, 
and the gain was not over two inches a year, or a foot in six seasons, till 1876, 
when they grew 18 inches. Xo bird or insect has attacked them. 

Black VMlnuts grew so long as cultivated, but when exposed, from the dying out 
of a row of soft maples, and by the enroachment of sod, they became stunted in 
growth, except a few that grew in a depression, equally dry vidth the rest, but of 
richer soil, where the trees were now 20 to 30 feet high and 12 to 16 inches in 
diameter. A block of black walnuts, 3 hy 16 rods, in rows 4 feet apart and 2 feet 
between in the rows, was cultivated eight j^ears and then left. Some of these, in 
a basin of vegetable mold, are now 4 to 6 inches in thickness and 20 to 25 feet 
high. The rest are 2 to 4 inches in diameter and 15 to 20 feet high, the average 
amount of wood growth being one-fifth of those in the basin. A neighbor had 
planted walnuts, in 1844, that had been transplanted twice. They were 20 feet 
apart; had been in cultivated ground twenty-five years. They are now 17 inches 
thick at 2 feet from the ground, and one that had been cultivated till now on one 
side was 23 inches, with a hight of 40 feet. These trees have a spreading top, the 
branches beginning at 7 to 8 feet up, and bear fruit abundantly. 

These facts lead to the conclusion that black walnut will succeed on dry, rich 
soil, if cultivation is continued till the trees are able to shade out the grass, and 
that when planted alone, and without shading nurses, they will die. Mr. S. pre- 
fers the European larch as a nurse. The sugar maple is found to agree well, and 
might be used for this purpose. These other trees secure a clean, upright stem to 
the walnut, an important object with this timber. It must have deep, rich soil. 

Silver-leaf maple.— This j)romised well everywhere ten or twelve years, and some 
trees had a diameter of 18 inches at the collar in 15 years. They are liable to 
break from winds in summer and from ice in winter, and many show signs of 
early maturity and decay. They are i^articularly liable to injury from grass. It 
grows best in wet soils. 

White ash. — Trees set in 1856, 1 inch in thickness and 7 feet high, 2 rods apart, 
are now 30 feet high, 8 to 14 inches thick, and the spread of the limbs 20 to 25 
feet. They have a strong tendency to sprout from the stump of the parent tree. 
Trees from seed, planted in 1858, and set in forest rows, with European larch and 
black walnut, are straight and smooth 25 to 30 feet high and 3 to 4 inches in 
diameter. 

Sugar-maples, planted 20 feet apart, 7 feet high, in 1856, are now 25 feet high and 
6 to 8 inches thick, sj)reading 12 to 17 feet. 

Trees from seed, planted in 1858, have a height of 20 feet and thickness of 3 to 6 
inches. It grows very slow in prairie soil for fifteen to twenty years, after which 
it makes satisfactory growth. Trees an inch in diameter when set, thirty-three 
years ago, are now over 3 feet in circumference at a foot from the ground, 30 feet 
high, and 25 feet spread. A wild cherry tree, set in the same ground, twenty -six 
years from seed, is now 5 feet round. 

Box elder grows rapidly, gaining a diameter of 6 inches in seven years from 
planting, and forms a fine head, 16 feet across. It is not liable to break from winds 
and ice, like the soft maple. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

Butternut grows well under cultivation, being 5 to 7 inches through, and a well 
proportioned head. It bears nuts. 

Redbud, good only for ornamental planting; slow grower. 

American larch grows nearly as well as the European, but with less regular form; 
branches, wild and straggling ; height, 25 feet ; diameter, 4 to 6 inches. 

Red elm grows rapidly, some trees being tj to 8 or ten inches thick ; but at this 
age many have an unhealthy appearance. It is not worthy of cultivation on dry 
land. 

White elm. — In regard to growth, variety of soil needed, and habit of late leav- 
ing, it resembles the walnut, requiring the same treatment, and leading to the 
same results. Valueless on common prairie without cultivation until able to pro- 
tect itself There is this difference between these two trees, however," that while 
the walnut requires a deep, rich, dry soil, the white elm will flourish in a wet soil, 
less deep and rich, with annual cultivation for twenty years. These two trees 
make about the same growth on common dry prairie as they do in the "sinks," 
with a cultivation of four or five years. 

English elm makes a more vigorous growth and a more beautiful foilage than 
either of the American varieties, and Avill do well with less cultivation. 

Chestnut. — A total failure on prairie soil. Only one tree remained on the ground, 
and this is the only one known in the county. It stands 20 feet high, 6 inches in 
diameter, and is kept in slightly growing condition from the forest protection 
_ around it. It grows satisfactorily on the lighter soil of the Mississippi bluffs. 
- Lombardy poplar grows rapidly and beautiful a few years, but is unhealthy and 
valueless in ten or fifteen years, especially so on rich soils. Trees of ten years' 
growth are 8 to 10 inches thick and 25 to 30 feet high. 

Horse-chestnut. — Hardy, but an exceedingly slow grower on prairie, yet grows 
well on gravelly or sanely soil. 

Evergreens. — White pines are 30 to 40 feet high in forests 6 to 8 feet apart, with 
a diameter of 10 to 14 inches. When close, they are equal hight but slender, and 
denuded of side branches. The white pines of this plantation are from trees from 
seedlings gathered from American forests in 1866, planted 12 feet apart. They are 
6 to 10 feet high in 1876. They are filled with Scotch pine for nurses, with trees 
grown from seed gathered from trees imported and planted in 1858. They were 
cultivated till able to protect themselves. 

Scotch Pine, in close plantations, 4 to 6 feet apart, have a height of 20 to 25 feet, 
and a diameter, of 6 to 7 inches. When standing separate, they have twice this 
diameter, and form a beautiful tree, valuable as a wind-break, and growing surely 
and rapidly on nearly every variety of soil. They are very hardy. 

Black Austrian Pine grows equally well with the Scotch, and mainly valuable for 
ornament and wind-breaks. 

Norway Spruce, when planted alone, spreads nearly as wide as it grows in height, 
forming a beautiful pyramid. The greatest diameter of the trunk of these trees, 
is 15 inches, from trees planted in 1857, one foot in height. 

American White Spruce. — This is a beautiful tree, equally, if not excelling the 
Norway, and with the same habits. 

American Arbor-vitse, (white cedar). — This forms a beautiful tree when young, 
and standing alone, and it may be successfully sheared to any desirable form. It 
grows slowly, and when planted closely in rows, 6 feet apart, and onl^' one foot in 
the row, has a diameter of 2 to 4 inches, and 16 feet in height. 

Siberian-Arbor vitie, is equally hardy with the American, and grows more com- 
pact and beautiful. 

Hemlock, when planted on prairie soil, makes a slow and dwarfish growth, till, 
twelve or fifteen j'ears old. It is better on hard soil. 

American Silver Fir (Balsam). — A rapid, beautiful grower, its main value being 
as an ornamental tree ; is less hardy in the extremes of cold following exceed- 
ingly severe droughts, as in 1864-65 ; as in case of the great droughts which then 
visited this western country, when a great many of the finest of the balsam trees, 
many of them 40 feet in height, died. 

European silver fir. — This is too tender for this climate, and has only flourished 
in protected situations. It has a height of 30 feet, and a diameter of 6 to 7 inches, 
and should be used only as an ornamental tree. Yet, this tree shows early old 
age, and is less beautiful in twenty or thirty years. 



98 FOREST TREE PLANTERS MANUAL. 



Experience of Tree-culture, in IIMnois. 

Mr. Samuel Edwards, of Mendota, 111., reporting from a committee of 
the State Horticultural Society, in 1876,* speaks of the condition and 
prosjDects of tree-planting, and of the success and failure that has attended 
the experiments hitherto tried : 

For several years the locust used to be the timber tree, and was quite extensively 
planted ; and when the beautiful groves, on which so many had placed their de- 
pendence for future fencing, were destroyed by the borer, a general depression 
came over the minds of tree-planters. For a tirne their energies for work in this 
direction, were paralyzed, and it is only recently, from observation of the growth 
and value of a few other varieties of trees as yet successfully cultivated here, eon- 
fldence in timber-growing is being restored. Many have made small beginnings ; 
a few are planting extensively of black walnut, Europeaii larch, ash, of different 
varieties, white and Scotch pines, white willow, silver maple and ash-leaved 
jnaple, all of which give satisfaction, except the silver maple, which is, in some 
cases, troubled with a borer, and limbs are broken in severe storms. 

Some have advocated extensive planting of the chestnut, and for over twenty 
years, they were thrifty on a prairie mound, clay soil, with good, natural under- 
drainage in my grounds. A severe winter succeeding a drought fatally injured 
one of the two trees set in 1851, and on my new grounds, at Mendota, only some 
4 feet to a stiff clay, they are very unsatistactory ; many trees 4 to 6 feet high, 
were killed in the winter of 1874-'75. The tulip tree, for twenty-five years from 
first planting, grew finely. Quite a number on the grounds of Arthur Bryant and 
Tracy Reeve, at Piinceton, and at " The Evergreens," Lamoille, failed under the 
same circumstances as the chestnut. The English walnuts, grown at La Porte, 
Ind., were brought to one of the meetings of this society a few years since, by W. 
H. Ragan, with the report, that it proved hardy, and had borne fruit there several 
years. Itried a second hundred from an eastern nursery ; and they have a;ll winter 
killed. Doubtless, all of these varieties planted on timber soil, in the southern 
and central parts of the State will succeed. It is evident, from past experience, 
that it will require several years to test varieties of trees before planting exten- 
sively on the prairies of our section of country. \ 

A good beginning is being made in planting trees along the public highways^ 
for which white elm, ash, and silver-maple, are generally used. It is to be regret- 
ted, that some continue to plant the Lombardy poplar, which is very short-lived, 
and timber of so little value. Centennial trees were very generally set by pur 
people who plant at all. 

Several cemeteries, a number of farms in this vicinity, and the Blackstone 
Public School grounds, in Mendota, have been improved the present year, by 
planting extensive evergreen screens. 

How any one can reside on our bleak prairies during the passage of one of our 
polar waves, like that of December 9, with the mercury at — 23°, and not decide 
to provide timber-shelter for his family and animals, is past my comprehension. 
Yet, how many men, with good sense in every other respects, and with ample 
means, continue to live without this merciful provision! It really does seem 
certain, that, at no distant day, a general awakening to this work of necessity, 
must break out all over the prairies of the north-west. 

Of ornamental deciduous trees, as yet planted, only to a limited extent, I would 
l)lace first on the list, our lovely sugar-maple. If there is a finer avenue of decid- 
uous trees in our State than the one of sugar-maple, planted by Arthur Bryant, 
some forty years since, it has not been my good fortune to see it. Norway maple 
is one of the best, valuable, on account of retaining its foliage late ; cut-leaevd 
weeping birch, very fine ; weeping mountain ash ; horse chestnut, slow grower, 
desirable ; Japan ginko, unique ; American linden, if foreign, would be called for; 
magnolia acuminata, unsurpassed. The following do not endure severe winters : 
European ash, and several weeping varieties of it; European weeping linden ; 
weeping thorn, several varieties ; rosemary-leafed weeping willow. Kilmarnock 
weeping willow, though hardier than the forgoing, is fretjuently injured enough to 
render it undesirable. 



♦Transactions of Illinois Horticultural Society, 1876, p. 115. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS MANUAL. 



99 



COMPARATIVE VALUE OF WOODS FOR FUEL— EXPERIMENTS BY 

MARCUS BULL. 
A paper read before the American Philosophical Society, April 7, 1826, 
by Marcus Bull, of Philadelplia,* gives the results of careful experi- 
ments upon qualities and relative values of American woods, that have 
been regarded as trustworthy and valuable. In conducting these experi- 
ments, Mr. Bull construced a room within a room,t so that the walls of 
the inner one could be kept uniform in temperature, and combustion 
was made in a stove with an abundance of pipe. The time and effects 
were carefully noted, and all circumstances affecting draught of air, size, 
and condition of fuel, &c., were made as uniform as possible. 



Common and Botanical Names. t 



White ash — Fraxinus americana 

Apple tree — Pyrus tnalus 

White beech — Fagus sylvestris 

Black birch — Betula lenta 

White \>\x<i\v— Betula populifolia 

Butter-nut — yuglans cathartica . . .' 

Red cedar — yunipertis virginiana 

American chestnut — Castanea vesca 

Wild cherry — Cerasus virginiana 

Dogwood — Cornus florida 

White elm — Ulmus ajnericana 

Sour gum — Nyssa sylvatica 

Sweet gum — Liquidambar styraciflua 

Shell-bark hickory — Juglatis sgieamosa , 

Pig-nut hickory — yuglatis porcina 

Red-heart hickory — Juglans laciniata? 

Witch-hazel — • Hamarnelis virginica 

American holly — Ilex opaca 

American hornbeam — Carpinus atnericana. .... 
Mountain laurel — Kalmia latifolia 

Hard maple — Acer saccharinunt 

Soft maple — Acer rubrum 

Large m.iignolia,^^^agnalia grandi^ra 

Chestnut wtiite oak — Quercus prinuspalustris. 

White oak — Quercus alba 

Shell-bark white oak — Quercus obtusiloba 

Barren scrub oak — Quercus catesbcei 

Pin oak — Quercus palustris.- 

Scrub black 0%}s.-- Quercus Banisteri 

Red Oak — Quercus rubra 

Barren oak — Quercus ferruginea 

Rock chestnnt oak — Quercus prinus monticala. 

Yellow oak — Quercus pri>ius acuminata 

Spanisll oak — Quercus falcata 

Persimmon — Diospyros virginiana 

Yellow pine (soft) — Pinu% mitis 

Jersey pine — Finus inops 

Pitch pine — Finus rigida 

White pine — Finus strobus 

Yellow poplar — Lyriodendron tulipifera 

Lombardy poplar — Fopulus dilatata 

Sassafras — Laurus sassafras 

Wild service— .^ro«za arborea 

Sycamore — Acer pseudo-plantanus 

Black walnut — yuglans nigra 

Swamp whortleberry — Vaccinium corymbosum. 



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* " Experiments to determine the Comparative Value of the principal Varieties of Fuel used in the 
United States, and also in Europe, and on the Ordinary Apparatus used in their combustion." By 
Marcus Bull, Philadelphia, 1827, 8 vo , p. 103. 

tThe outer room was 11 x 14 feet and about 11 feet high ; the inner one was cubic, 8 feet on a side, 
and containing 512 cubic feet. 

JTliese names are generally according to Michaux, and in some cases are different from those now 
generally adopted. 



100 FOREST TREE PLANTERS^ MANUAL. 



EXPERIMENTS IN TREE-PLANTING BY MR. JOSEPH S. FAY, AT 
WOOD'S HALL, BARNSTABLE COUNTY, MASS. 

At the close of the season of 1875, the plantation of Mr. Fay included 
something over 125 acres, of which about 100 were sown broadcast, 
chiefly in the spring, and about 25 were set with imj^orted trees. The 
seed sown were chiefly those of the native pitch-pine, with some white 
pine, the Austrian, Scotch, and Corsican pine, the Norway spruce, and 
the European larch. The imported trees number about 35,000, consist- 
ing of the Austrian, Scotch, and Corsican pines, Norway spruce, Norway 
maple, English sycamore {Acer pseudo-platanus), English oak, alder, 
Scotch birch and larch, wych elm and Huntington and red Germain 
willows. There were also set several thousand native pines from the 
eastern part of Falmouth. 

This plantation is between Buzzard's Bay on the west and north and 
and Martha's Vineyard Sound on the east and south, the highest eleva- 
tion being about 150 feet above the sea. The surface is uneven and made 
up of abrupt hills and deep hollows, sprinkled over with bowlders of 
granite, and the soil a drift formation of clay and gravel with a yellow 
or sandy loam. It was, before seeding, an old pasture ground, with no 
tree except an oak, that springs out of the huckleberry bushes here and 
there, but hardly rising above them on account of the wind, and from 
being kept down by browsing. The annual rain-fall in this section is 
about 45 inches, and the prevailing winds in summer are southerly, and 
in winter northerly. 

The native jDines of Mr. Fay's plantation were set in 1853-1856, and 
imported trees were set in 1852, 1853, 1855, 1871, and 1872. Native pine 
seeds were sown in 1858, 1861, 1864, and 1868. The foreign seeds were 
sown in 1861, 1862, 1868. The results are stated as follows:* 

The Scotch pine from the seed have proved on the whole, inchiding prompt 
germination, the best grower and very hardy ; bnt the weevil affects the symetry 
of many trees. The Norway spruce and English oak have done well, and the 
white pine ; but all three suffer when much exposed, as on the outside of a plan- 
tation, to the strong salt winds. The Austrian pine does well, but is slow and 
irregular in germinating, and makes a later start from the seed. The larch has 
not come well from the seed ; from the nursery or as imported it does remarkably 
well ; so with the Scotch birch and alder. The Scotch pine does finely from the 
seed or the nursery, and from the latter the English sycamore does well. All have 
done better than the native pitch-pine. 

One kind of pine, though not fully tested by me, promises better than the rest, 
namely, the Corsican (Pinus laricio). In my first importation I ordered five hun- 
dred, but when transi^lanted in my absence thej^ were mixed with the Austrian, 
and I lost sight of them for ten years. I was then so struck with their great vigor, 
beauty and tine promise, that in 1868 I imported some seed and commenced sow- 
ing them, mixed with other kinds, upon vacant lands, and have since kept it up. 
Some of those that came up are very strong and healthy, while others are effected 
by some insect or a kind of blight. They are very hardy and beautiful when not 
so etiected. I think that some of the nurserymen have imported and sell them 
under the name of Austrian. Of those sown in 1868 some are (in 1875) over eight 
feet liigh, of which nearly or quite tive feet grew in the last three years. At an 
early day I tried some seed of the French maritime pine {Finns pinaster maratima) 
which were so successfully planted on tlie west coast of France under the first 
Napoleon ; but, after germininating and growing thriftily to the height of six feet, 
they were winter-killed. This was the experience on Nantucket and Martha's 
Vineyard Islands, where the_y were tried extensively. 

Some (jf the Scotch and Austrian pines, Norway spruces, and Scotch larches 



♦''Masaachusetts PIoughmHii," Febiniary 26, 1876, in answer to enquiries by Prof. C. S.i_Sargeut. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 101 

which I obtained from my brother, Mr. Richard S. Fay, of Lynn, in 1853, proba- 
bly imported by him in 1850, are about 40 feet high, and from 10 to 14 inches in 
diameter one foot from the ground. Some native white pines set out about the 
same time have done as well. Of those imported in 1853, many are about 35 feet 
high, and 8 to 12 inches in diameter one foot from the ground. Of the Scotch 
pines from seed sown in 1861, some, favorably situated — that is, not crowded and 
in fair soil and shelter — are 30 feet high and iO inches through the butt a foot from 
the ground. Most of them were not too thickly sown in 1862 and 1863, are up- 
wards of 20 feet high and 6 inches in diameter one foot from the ground. 

All the pines have done well from the seed, on the whole, except the native 
pitch-pines, which became sickly, and which, after a good growth to a certain 
point, I am cutting out for fuel, as not worth keeping. Some, however, that I 
transplanted in 1853, 1854, 1855, are very strong and healthy, being at least .30 feet 
high and 10 to 12 inches in diameter. I am told that the seedling native trees, 
of which many acres have been planted in Nantucket, are proving worthless and 
are being cut down. 

My first importations of trees were in 1871 and 1872, and consisted of English 
alder, Scotch birch, Scotch larch, English sycamore, Norway spruce, and Austrian • 
Scotch, and Corsican pines. The alder I have found to be a raj )id grower, very 
hardy and ornamental, well adapted for a screen or a shelter to other trees. Some 
which were set out at 1^ to 2 feet high in 1871, are now 8 and 10 feet high. The 
birches have done well, and so with the pines ; the sycamore and Norway spruce 
not as well, needing, perhaps, two years on the nursery or a better soil. The 
Scotch larches were heated on the voyage, and the summer following being very 
dry, many died. Those that survived have recovered, and, being now finely started, 
are making a vigorous growth. 

My first purchases of foreign trees were planted about my house, in the open- 
ings of a thirty acre lot of oak and beach woods near by, and on the bare gravelly 
hills overlooking the Sound and raked by strong winds. The trees I imported in 
] 853, after two years in the nursery, I planted out, some in clumps of a quarter 
and half an acre each, on an old pasture which I did not "seed down," and which 
had not a tree upon it. I surrounded them with fences of wire drawn through 
cedar posts to keep ofi" the cattle, who find in them a grateful shade, now the trees 
are too large to be injured by them. Others I placed along the walls of my culti- 
vated fields, and some on the margin of my old deciduous woods, so as to afford a 
shelter and a variety of foilage. My importations of 1871 and 1872 were planted 
as soon as received on an old and poor pasture land, where I intended they should 
remain. My method was to run with oxen deep single furrows 7 feet apart, and 
then set the" trees in them 7 feet from each other. The land is rough and of the 
average soil of a worn out pasture. These have done well, except those larches 
which died, as before stated, in consequence of being heated on tlie voyage, tak- 
ing into the account the saving of labor and the use of more valuable land, by 
not putting them into a nursery, though if placed there at the first start they may 
have seemed to do better. 

The trees were introduced as a matter of taste, and as an experiment, without 
the calculation of any immediate advantage. Still I think if it had been near a 
market, or one had been sought, there would have been a profit in the sale of the 
surplus young trees, and now already in the sales of wood, if onh^ the thinnings. 
The laud has been, no doubt, improved by the deposit of thousands of loads of 
leaves upon it and by the shade afforded it, while it has been lightened and lifted 
by the permeation of the roots of the trees. Much of the labor has l)een done at 
intervals of farm work, and chiefly without professional supervision. 

When I bought my place in the fall of 1850, except a few stinted red cedars on 
Parker's Point, and some white cedars in the swamps, there was not an evergreen 
tree within three miles of nay house, and hardly any tree of any kind in sight of 
it. The woods (oak, beech, and hickorj^) were in the dells and valleys behind the 
hills fronting the sea, and it was maintained that trees would not grow and could 
not be made to do so in the face of the salt-laden winds from the south and south- 
west. The exposure was certainly great and the soil poor, and trees planted singly 
or sparcely, perhaps, could not have resisted it, but close planting made a shelter, 
and those not specially from an inland habitat (like the white maple) have done 
well, and seem to the manor born. 

In answer to the question, " If you were to do the work over again, 
could you improve on the methods employed by you? Mr. Fay replied: 



102 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

I think I should recommend, whei-e the ground was not too stony and rough, 
instead of sowing seed broadcast, to run parallel furrows, not deep, running east 
and west (so the mid-day sun will not strike across them) seven feet apart, and 
drop the seeds in them, merely pressing them into the ground, and not covering 
them more than this, if at all. This, in the first place, especially on the hill-side 
where the furrows should be run at right angles with the slope and not vertically, 
will prevent the seed from washing down to the low places ; in the second place, 
the seed will be likely to come up more at the same time, and would be more uni- 
formly distributed than can be done broadcast, unless sowed when there is snow 
on the ground, and also less seed would be required and less would be wasted ; in 
the third place, the side of the furrow would tend to shade the young germ, which, 
on the open swarcl, in a dry time, is apt to be withered and destroyed bj' the heat. 
In my plantings, where the trees have come up too thickly, I have transplanted 
them to spots where the seed has failed or was not sown, but this makes extra 
labor. If sowed in furrows, the seed might be dropped at intervals of four or five 
feet, and even then, in a few years, if all were to come up they would require 
thinning. In this case, the surplus could be sold or planted elsewhere. They 
would make good nursery plants. 

As to imported trees, when it is considered that the average cost, landed at the 
farm, of English grow^n plants one or two feet high, is less than one cent each, it 
would be a saving of time to procure them and set them out in the place where 
they are to grow. There is a little uncertainty in their condition, but, as a rule, 
they come in good order. This requires two plantings. My last I placed, as I 
have stated, in the field where thej^ were to grow, in parallel furrows. 
I think it would be better to plow cross furrows the same distance apart, or say 10 
feet each way, and plant the trees at the intersection. Unless the land is very 
much exposed to the wind, 10 feet is near enough, as even then, in about seven 
years, a man could hardly walk between the rows. If there are bleak hills to be 
planted, then the trees should be nearer together, say 6 or 7 feet, so as to shelter 
each other more ; but, when they get up and are doing well, they ought to be thin- 
ned. But for this need of shelter in exposed places they would do better in view 
of a twenty -five years growth to be 20 feet apart each way. Up to a certain point 
they help each other by proximity, but it takes great courage to cut down strong 
and thrifty trees to make room. Yet on a farm the thinnings may be useful, and 
when near large towns, would be salable for cheap rustic fencesandinclosures, and 
certainly for kindling stuff". It is also to be considered that if planted too far apart, 
the growth would be more lateral than vertical in proportion, and the trees would 
be more spreading, and tend less to taper form and slenderness. 

In planting out at once on rough land instead of first in a nursery, though the 
tree may take a year or two to get a start, for the roots to find their way into the 
closer soil of an old field, there is a great saving of labor and not much loss of time, 
as each transplanting checks a tree in its growth. One thousand trees will cover 
an acre well, if planted six or seven feet apart, and five hundred, if nine or ten 
feet from each other, and after the furrows are made, two active, handy men could 
plant one to two acres a day. Care should be taken not to plant too near other 
older trees^ lest they overshadow and kill out the new planting, or the overhang- 
ing limbs chafe and keep down the leading shoots. I have wasted a great many 
trees by planting them in the old woods where the spaces seemed large and open, 
by their being overgrown and shaded out. If I were again to set out young trees 
among the old woods, I should cut the latter all down clean, and let them start 
again from the stumps with the new planting. If this is not done, and it is desir- 
able to keep the old trees, they must then be carefully watched and trimmed and 
lopped, as the young ones grow up under and about them. And I have lost many 
trees by their being planted or sowed too near each other. When trees are two 
or three feet high, it seems quite safe to plant them five feet apart, but soon they 
are too close, and the most vigorous crowd out and destroy the weakest. In my 
seeded plantations in many spots, they have come up at the rate of 40,000 trees to 
the acre ; hence my advice to mark off the fields in furrows and sow in them 
rather broadcast. It would be a great saving every way, excei)t in a little labor at 
the start. Nor in sowing should I now mix the seeds o"f diff'erent pines, as I have 
done, but sow each kind by itself distinctly. For a Scotch, for instance, comes 
up promptly, it is likely to get the start of "the Austrian, the seed of which some- 
times lies dormant two or three years, and so overshadows and crowds it out. If 
the latter were sowed by itself, though it would be slower in germinating, all 
would be likely to start together, and when fairly rooted jmake up for lost time. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 103 

It would not be a miss to plant here and there some desu-able kinds of acorns or 
nuts, for while the pines would grow faster and keep them down, if for any reason 
the pines were cut off, the oaks and hickory would come forward very rapidly 
W"hen open to the sun. A few chestnuts that I have planted under the lee of other 
trees, have made an extraordinary growth, and in the interioi*, their habitat, they 
must be a very profitable tree to plant. 

Yon will bear in mind that I have given you my experience as a planter of trees, 
much as an incident of farming and not as a business. Were it taken up as a 
thing of itself then it might be advisable to start seed-beds and raise one's own 
trees, and nurse them, instead of importing them. I have endeavored to raise a 
forest about me at the least possible cost of labor, and not looking much to the 
hurrying of the result or to count up an early profit. The land was denuded, and 
exhausted, and moss-grown, and I took this method to cover it with vendure and 
restore it, believing that the wood would comiDensate me or my heirs sooner or 
later. * * * In closing my discursive remarks, I would say that, considering 
the position of my place, exposed on the northwest to the violent wdnds of win- 
ter sweeping across Buzzard's Bay, and in summer to the strong breezes from the 
southwest, bringing salt spray from Vineyard Sound, the vigorous growth and 
promising appearance of my forest plantations is very encouraging to those more 
favorably placed. Not only may the destruction of our forests be partially remed- 
ied at a cheap cost, but the waste and sterility of our land by long cultivating and 
_ pasturing, be removed and replaced with fertility by the simple j^rocess of nature. 
It is much, also, to restore shade in summer and shelter in winter by the renewal 
of our forests. 

A committee of the Northern lUmois Horticultural Societ}', at a ses- 
sion, held in December, 1867, recommended the following list of ever- 
greens as suitable for cultivation m that region : 

For timber-belts : White pine, Norway pine and spruce, Scotch pine, Austrian 
pine, and American arbor vitse. 

For high screens : Norway spruce and American arbor vitte. 

For screens of moderate height : Siberian arbor vitee, Norway spruce, American 
arbor vitse, hemlock and red cedar. 

Ornamental specimen trees : All the foregoing, and the white, black, and red 
spruce, P'icea pichta, Cimbrian pine, Pinus rnitis, Irish and Swedish junipers. 

Shrubs : American yew, tamarix-leaved and Waukegan trailing juniper, savin, 
Finus magnus, Pinus pumilis, and Andromeda foribundi. 

An exj)erimental station, begun at the Illinois Industrial University, 
reported, February 29, 1872, seven acres as planted with 36,749 trees, at 
a cost of $433.48 for trees, $106.72 for planting, and $42.83 for cultiva- 
tion ; total, $583.03. The kinds planted were the white and green 
ash, catalpa, chestnut, white elm, European larch, white maple, Osage 
orange, Austrian and Scotch pines, white walnut and white willow. The 
land planted with each kind, was generalh" a quarter of an acre, but 
more with white ash and larch. Distance apart, 2 by 4 inches, except 
the pines, which were 4 by 4. The catalj^as and white elms were all 
living, and but 2 per cent, of the green ash, white maple, Osage orange, 
and white willow died. But 1 per cent, of white walnuts, and 5 per 
cent, of white ash were lost. Half the chestnut and three-fourths of the 
larch perished, and but 2 per cent, of the pines lived. The white grub 
(the larva of the May beetle) did great injury, especially to the larch and 
white ash, girdling the roots below the surface. The loss of the pines 
Avas attributed to dry weather.* 

In 1872, 10,083 trees were planted; the larches and pines from R. 
Douglas & Sons, Waukegan, 111., and the others grown on the jjremises, 
at Campaign. The per centages living from both years' planting, at 
the end of 1872, were as follows : Catalpa and white elm, 196 ; white 
walnut, 99 ; green ash, white maple, white willow, Osage orange, and 
Norway spruce, 98 ; white ash, 93 ; European larch, Austrian pine, and 
white pine, 30 ; Scotch pine, 20 ; chestnut, 4. The white grub had again 



104 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

done much injury, especially to the larch. It was found to be less 
affected on high land. The chestnuts mostly winter killed. The Osage 
orange was promising to become one of the most valuable trees for that 
latitude, and both this and the catalpa, when cut close to the ground in 
order to get a good, straight growth, had succeeded well. 

A prominent cause of failure in evergreen planting, is the exposure of 
the roots to the sun and air. " We have seen hay-racks loaded with 
evergreens going from the nursery to the packing-house, that were dead 
before shipping, proving worse than a total loss of money to the pur- 
chasers." The pear grafted on quince stock, has, also, led to great dis- 
appointment. 

In making plantations in exposed situations, it will be found advanta- 
geous to have them of as large an area as possible, for trees will, in many 
cases, thrive in large masses which would actually starve in small clumps 
or belts. The soil should be well trenched or drained, and great care 
should be taken in selecting the hardy varieties that are suited to the 
soil in which they are planted. The plants should be small when trans- 
planted, and those that are known to stand severe winds, should form 
the margin, "while the more valuable kinds are planted in the interior. 
In many cases it will be found judicious to plant thickly with the view 
of shelter, and thin early, so as to bring up the trees in a healthy and 
hardy state, taking girth with their height. 

In respect to the success that may, under good management, be expected 
to result from tree planting in eastern Nebraska, the following extract 
from an address delivered before the State Board of Agriculture, by the 
Hon. J. Sterling Morton, January 26, 1876, lays down his rules and 
mentions his results as follows : 

First, the original sod should be broken and turned over in thin, evenly-laid 
strips. When completed, a good breaking will appear like a vast floor of well-laid 
two inch plank painted with lampblack. Then plant and cultivate, not to see 
how much you can manage, but how ivell. Then come trees : walnuts, cottonwoods, 
willows, mullberries, and elms will make the home seem civilized. Tree plant- 
ing is an avocation which barbarians never follow. Indians never adorn their 
wigwams with orchards, nor indulge in floriculture. There is no record of an 
aboriginal horticulturist in any book I have read or heard of anywhere. It may 
seem a long time to raise a saw-log from the walnut which lies in the palm of 
your hand, but the rain and frost of winter and the sunshine of summer, together 
with the fertile and forcing soil of Nebraska, crowd a walnut into the dimensions 
of a respectable saw-log in less than twenty-five years. Upon a farm where I 
have lived, in Otoe county, for more than twenty years, one may see black walnut 
trees, which will make good railroad ties, and some which will do to saw up, 
which I planted with my own hands. * * * And, again, there may be found 
Cottonwood saw-logs growing there which are more than six feet in girth, and 
when I first saw them they were only wandering germs, floating in the air like 
down from a bird's breast. But they are adult saw-logs in 1876. These remarks, 
somewhat egotistical though they may be, are made for the purpose merely of 
impressing you, and through you the farming people, with the tree possibilities 
of this State, and I only preach in this regard what I have faithfully put in prac- 
tice, and the witnesses of the truth of my theories stand majestically verifying 
me all over the farm whence this is written to you, in the form of beautiful, 
thrifty, and valuable fruit and forest trees. Come down and see them, in the hot 
summer days, while you rest in their shade, even their foliage will tell you in 
whispering with the wind how pleasant and profitable a thing it is to plant the 
prairie with trees. 

MINNESOTA STATE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 

This, the first, and hitherto the only State forestry association within 
the United States, was formed at Saint Paul, January 12, 1876, in pur- 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 105 

suance of a call signed bv many leading citizens of the State, who real- 
ized the importance of 'taking effectual measures for protecting the 
existing timber resources of the State, and of making provision against 
future wants. At the first meeting, held .January 11, a committee, con- 
sisting of Gen. George L. Becker ,'Ex-Gov. William R. Marshall, Leonard 
B. Hodges, Prof. Charles Y. Lacy, Wyman Elliott, L. M. Ford, and Prof. 
William W. Folwell, was appointed to draft a constitution, which was 
adopted the next day at an adjourned session, as follows : 

Constitution of the Minnesota State Forestry Association. 

Article I. This Society shall be known as the Minnesota State Forestry Asso- 
ciation. 

Art. II. The object of this association shall be the encouragement and promo- 
tion of forest culture by the collection and diffusion of practical information on 
that subject, and by" the discussion of all questions pertaining thereto; to secure 
the general observance of Arbor Day throughout the State, and to promote the 
ultimate redemption of the treeless regions of Minnesota. 

Art. III. The officers of this association shall consist of a i.resi(leut, one vice- 
president for each Congressional district, a treasurer, and an executive committee 
consisting of the president, secretarv, and five elective members. 

Art. IV. The president shall preside over all meetings of the society, and 
deliver an annual address on the subject of forest culture in Minnesota. 

Art. V. In the absence of the president, his duties shall devolve upon the vice- 
presidents in their regular order. 

Art. VI. The secretarv shall record all transactions of the society ; shall collate, 
edit, and prepare all work for the press ; shall receive and answer all communica- 
tions addressed to the society; shall establish and maintain correspondence with 
similar associations, and secure by exchange their transactions, as far as possible. 
He shall give full and general notice of all meetings of this society, through the 
public press of the State. He shall report and submit to the annual meeting of 
the society all matter that has come into his possession, which, with its approval, 
shall l>ecome a part of the transactions of the society. He shall receive and pay 
over all moneys received from members or otherwise to the treasurer, from whom 
he shall take a receipt therefor. 

Art. VII. The treasurer shall collect and be held responsible for all funds of 
the society, and shall disburse the same only on the order of the executive com- 
mittee. 

Art. VIII. The officers of this society shall be elected annually by ballot, and 
shall hold their offices until their successors shall be elected. 

Art. IX. Everv member shall be entitled to copies of the transactions of the 
society, as often as the same shall be published, and it shall be the duty of the 
secretary to forward the same to each member, by mail, express, or otherwise, 
immediately after publication. 

Art. X. The executive committee may call a meeting of the society at any 
time and place they may deem advisable by a notice of at least ten days in the 
public press. 

Art. XI. The society shall hold annual sessions on the second Tuesday in Jan- 
uary of each year, at such place as the executive committee shall determine. 

Art. XII. Any person may become a member of this society by the payment 
of f 1 to the Secretary. 

Art. XIII. It shall be the duty of the executive committee to prepare a pro- 
gramme of exercises for each annual meeting, assigning to each division of arbori- 
culture an essay or paper to be furnished by some member specially qualified for 
this service. 

Art. XIV. The president and secretary shall have power to appoint delegates 
to meetings of kindred associations. 

Art. XV. This constitution may be amended by a vote of two-thirds of the 
members present at any annual meeting. 

Under this organization, the officers first elected were, F. F. Drake, of 
Saint Paul, President ; A. A. Soule, of Cottonwood County (first district), 
Ignatius Donnelly, of Dakota County (second district), and John H. 



106 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

Stevens, of Hennepin County (third district), Vice Presidents ; Leonard 
B. Hodges, of Saint Paul, Secretary ; Pennock Pusey, of Saint Paul, 
Treasurer ; and Prof. C. Y. Lacy, of the State University, G. W. Fuller, 
of litchfield, C. F. Dunbar, of Faribault County, John P. Schoenbeck, of 
Nicollet County, J. W. Blake, of Lyon Covinty,Vith the ex-officio officers 
above named, as Executive Committee. 

The State Legislature, by an act passed March 2, 1876, appropriated 
$2,500 to promote the objects of the Association, and in order to perfect 
the organization and remove all doubts as to legality, it was deemed 
proper to reorganize under the general laws of the State, which was done 
in due form on the 23d day of November, 1876. 

The means provided by State grant, and dues from members, enabled 
the society to offer a series of premiums, which, although not large in 
amount, were sufficiently numerous to stimulate competition, and the 
objects and plan of the Society were widely published in time for the 
planting season of 1876. The' first Tuesday of May was fixed upon as 
Arbor Day, and every citizen owning land was invited to devote this day 
especially to tree-planting. 

Dr. Hough says : Mr. L. B. Hodges, of Saint Paul, the Secretary of 
the Association in a letter dated November 29, 1877, gives the latest re- 
turns of operations for that year. 

The spring planting reported by the several tow^nship assessors, amounted to 
5,268,939 trees, of which 502,568 were planted on Arbor Day. The returns of fall 
planting are coming in by every mail, and will come in till January. The total 
amount for the year 1877 cannot fall short of 7,000,000, and will probably reach 
10,000,000, forest trees planted in Minnesota during the entire planting season. 

The returns of assessors are regarded by Mr. Hodges as very incom- 
plete, as it is an extra service for which no pay is allowed, and many 
appear to take no pains to get full returns. As to the proportion of these 
ten millions of trees that have been planted under the stimulus of pre- 
miums off'ered by the State, there are no means of knowing. We know 
that some would have planted without special inducement beyond self- 
interest. 

Unlike the experience of the more humid regions of the Atlantic 
States, timber culture west of the Mississippi has difficulties to encounter 
which require energy and patience to overcome. During the past sum- 
mer, in some ten or twelve counties of Minnesota, the grasshoppers 
proved very destructive to young trees, especially to seedlings. The 
correspondent just quoted mentions the following as within his experi- 
ence : 

In October and November, 1875, I planted 16 acres very thickly with cotton- 
wood and willow cuttings, ash seed, and box-elder seeds, with a few thousands of 
Cottonwood yearlings. Nearly all from seeds and cuttings came up well, and on 
the first of .Tune last that patch of 16 acres of young forest trees on the broad 
pi'airie was a beautiful sight. But dui'ing the months of .June and July they were 
nearly all devoured by the " hoppers." I have this fall replanted the same ground, 
and more too. May not grasshoppers, as well as fire, be one of the chief causes 
of the treeless region ? 

The State commissioner of statistics, in reporting for 1876, says that 
estimates, based upon the returns received, show that a million and a 
lialf of trees were planted on Arbor Day in 1876, and ten millions 
durng the season. Of these about 70 per cent, were alive and in 
healthy, growing condition October 15th. In noticing the results, he 
says: 

Indeed, from tlie sworn statements of parties com]ieting for premiums, we as- 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 107 

certain tliat in a large majority of instances, when the work was jiroperly and in- 
telligently performed, when the ground was properlj- fitted up, and the necessary 
cultivation given at the proper periods during the growing season, tliat the per- 
centage of loss is surprisinglj' small — in many instances less than 10 per cent. In 
analyzing the returns, we find a very large proportion of the tree-planting has 
been done M^here there is the most pressing necessity for this kind of work, viz., 
in the treeless region and the counties bordering theron. For example, Faribault 
County, with an area of 460,800 acres, had, at the time of the United .States' sur- 
vey, 20,300 acres of timber, being about 62- acres to each quarter-section, if pro- 
portionately distributed; enough to intice settlers into it, but not enough to last 
them forever. This county, realizing her necessities in this regard, has distin- 
guished herself by planting, as reported by assessors, on Arbor Day, 195,278 forest 
trees and cuttings, and during the entire season the enormous number of 1,804,777, 
clearly entitled her to the appellation of the " Banner Countj^" as awarded bj'' 
the State Forestry Association. 

Nobles county, with an area of 460,000 acres, had at the survey but 
40 acres of timber. The assessors report in this county 121,052 trees 
planted on Arbor Day, and 693,343 during the season. In the south- 
western group of counties, intersected by or tributary to the Southern 
Minnesota Railroad, the Saint Paul and Sioux City Railroad, and the 
Winona and Saint Peter Railroad, in all fifteen counties, lying south of 
the Minnesota river, and having together an area of 6,216,680 acres, and 
an average native supply of only l| acres to each quarter-section, there 
were planted on Arbor Day 799,348 trees, and during the season 5,084,828 
forest trees and cuttings, or more than half the whole amount in the 
State. In another group of counties, equally destitute of timber, on or 
near the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad, and the Hastings and Dakota 
Railroad, lying north of the Minnesota river, comprising ten counties 
and 4,753,400 acres, there were planted on Arbor Day 279,825 forest trees 
and cuttings, and during the season 898,431. 

The assessors report over 400 miles of windbreak and hedges as planted 
during the season of 1876 on farms bordering upon highways. 

Mr. John H. Stevens, of Minneapolis, in writing to the Department of 
Agriculture upon tree j^lanting in Minnesota, mentions the white, green, 
and black ash, aspen, long-toothed poplar, linden, yellow and white 
birch, black walnut, butternut, box elder, cotton wood, red and black 
cherry, elms of several kinds, hackberry, shagbark and bitter-nut hick- 
ories, red mulberry, several of the maples and oaks, and willows, tam- 
arac, and many smaller trees and shrubs, as adai3ted to cultivation in 
that State. As a rule, the evergreens had not done well, and the list of 
those that might be planted with much chance of success were the pine, 
balsam fir, swamp spruce, red and white cedar, and juniper. 

Mr. Stevens insists upon the thorough breaking up of the sod before 
planting, and advises that a hoed crop should be first cultivated so that 
the native sod shall be thoroughly pulverized and rotten. After the 
crop is removed the ground should be plowed deep and then harrowed. 
He would set the cuttings deep and cultivate so as to destroy all weeds 
and grass. He commends the white willow and Lombardy poplar for 
windbreaks, and the buffalo berry (Shepardea argented) as a hedge plant. 
In starting the oak, he would plant the acorn where the tree is wanted, 
as it is not easily transplanted. In some instances he had known a Cot- 
tonwood of fifteen years' growth make a cord of wood. The black wal- 
nut and butternut are well worthy of cultivation, esi)ecially the former, 
which grows rapidly and is quite valuable. The locust had very often 
failed, but it was hoped that it might yet succeed. He is confident that 
tree planting may be successfully undertaken throughout Minnesota and 



108 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 



Dakota, and that prairie farms may be easily kept supplied with all the 
wood needed for farm uses and for fuel, by proper care and management. 

STATISTICS OF TREE PLANTING IN MINNESOTA. 

The eighth annual report of the Assistant Secretary of State and Com- 
missioner of Statistics, embracing the returns for 1876, shows the follow- 
ing results of forest tree planting by counties : 



Becker . . . . 
Big Stone . . 
Blue Earth 
Brown 



Chippewa 

Clay 

Cottonwood . . 

Dakota 

Douglas 

Faribault 

Fillmore 

Freeborn 

Goodhue 

Grant 

Hennepin . . . . 

Houston 

Jackson 

Kandiyohi 

Lac-qui-Parle 

Le Sneur 

Lincoln 

Lyon 

McLeod 

Martin 

Meeker 

Mower 

Murray 

Nicollet 

Nobles 

Olmsted 

fitter Tail 

Polk 

Pope 



Ramsey 

Redwood 

Renville 

Rice 

Rock 

Sibley 

Stearns 

Steele 

Stevens 

Svrift 

Todd 

Wabasha 

Waseca 

Watonwan 

Wilkin 

Winona 

Yellow Medicine 

Total, 



Counties. 



24,508 
200 
020 
236 
620 
433 
562 
160 
,427 
576 
964 

47 
238 
127 
743 
150 
150 
553 
796 
677 
641 
895 
,955 
,540 
,120 
,645 
,136 
262 
.850 
2 
,671 
,399 

10 
,890 
612 
247 
,747 
,770 
060 
480 
,855 
,224 
,C49 
,000 
130 
,746 



90, 



12, 

i; 

49. 

15: 

184: 

38, 
6. 
1. 

i. 

63. 
6. 

5. 



928,581 






OJ O 

3 o 

.-^ CO 



169 

41,200 

113,561 

102,529 

105,092 

17,650 

451,201 

16,578 

15,497 

1,582,641 

25,400 

194,138 

11,279 

77,087 

6,342 

50 

349,565 

147,662 

125,678 

536 

10,870 

216,931 

84,749 

567,697 

30,276 

210,830 

106,193 

44,915 

536,232 

8,679 

11,503 

100 

30,554 

457 

132,613 

182,700 

767 

466,247 

122,640 

54,802 

18,853 

116,.'')25 

26,910 

1,793 

18.778 

90,773 

210,775 

4,570 

2.928 

105,766 



;5 Ci<y] 



2.724 

50,300 

690,868 

649,946 

242,904 

23,870 

541,221 

259,057 

181,780 

3,405,905 

218,019 

2,277,961 

711,477 

48.957 

41^874 

20,022 

1,283,022 

360,007 

293,523 

5,250 

16,941 

912.892 

100,275 

3,226,046 

145,260 

1,-554,099 

180,599 

227,221 

1,956.050 

229,907 

15,189 

182 

100,281 

3,090 

403,923 

749,710 

107,075 

786,320 

383,583 

122,964 

707,689 

461,025 

125.932 

2,749 

473,460 

814,075 

95.3,699' 

4,786 

18..'S98 

237,952 



6,792,911 , 26,437,088 



as 5,08 

'a O 

® o J5 



10 



14,457 
7,362 
1,070 



7,440 
3,718 

19,230 
4,100 
8,386 

11,679 



4,521 
295 



350 



288,897 

8,046 

170 

2,879 

"'"385 

9,688 
80 

'""5.50 
600 

1,.588 
772 
25 

9,604 

1,834 
742 

5,.540 
800 
220 

4, .507 

830 

3,387 

"* 760 



424,662 



No returns are published from the counties of Aitkin, Anoka, Benton, Carlton, Carver, Chisago 
Crow Wing, Dodge, Isanti, Kanabec, Lake, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Saint Louis, Scott, Sherburne 
Wadena, Washington and Wright— 19. 

The above table is from the Statistics of Minnesota for 1876, p. 85. 
Another table from returns made by assessors in the same report, pp. 
161-181, is imperfect in many respects, but more in detail as to planting 



.t'OREST TREE PLANTERS' MAJStJAL. 109 

by townships. The numbers in some cases agree with those in this 
table, and at other places they largely exceed them. 

Tree-plantiny in Kansas — Suggestions by Mr. Kelsey. 

Mr. Kelsey, in an essay, read before the Kansas State Horticultural 
Society, December 15, 1868, from an experience of twenty years in plant- 
ing, of which six had been spent in Kansas, gave the results of his 
observation, especially with the black walnut, cottonwood and silver 
maple, which he preferred as best adapted for this region. In planting- 
black walnuts, he desired they be gathered soon after they drop, and to 
be spread and covered two or three inches deep with moist earth, or, 
better, with saw-dust, to keep them moist through the winter. They 
should be planted two inches deep, early in spring, and with fair soil 
and good cultivation, they will grow so as to be of some use as fuel in 
five or six years, and in ten 3^ears, would make good fence-posts or rail- 
road ties, and begin to bear nuts. In fifteen years they would make a 
fine forest, and, if judiciously managed, would go on increasing in value 
for a century, returning fair jarofits annually, and without exj)ense. It 
should not be transplanted, but the seed should be placed where the tree 
is to stand. . 

Cottonwood might be started from shoots of last year's growth cut in 
the fall and packed in moist saw-dust, or buried in the earth till spring. 
They should be a foot long, and might be set with a narrow spade, leav- 
ing an inch or two out, and pressing the soil firmly about them at set- 
ting. Small plants with roots might be easily got; the}' would begin to 
be of service as wind-breaks and shelter for stock in four years, and the 
wood makes a fair fire-wood. He suggested planting cottonwood altern- 
ately with black walnut, to make the latter grow taller than if grown 
alone. 

Silver maple should be started from seed, which ripens from the 15th to 
the 18th of May, and should be sown immediately in drills, and covered 
with an inch of good, mellow soil. It will come up in six to ten days, 
and by fall of the first year, will be two feet and a half high. The next 
spring it should be set in forest rows, two inches deeper than it stood in 
the shed—bed, the earth being pressed firmly about the roots. In ten 
years it will be 25 to 30 feet high, and 10 to 12 inches in diameter. It 
forms a bea,utiful tree while young, and its wood is more valuable than 
cottonwood, being useful for cabinet-wares. Its sap will make sugar of 
good quality, but less in quantity than the sugar maple. It has the 
fault of forking, so as to make two or more stems, and, except in favor- 
able circumstances is not likely, if left to itself, to make a large, straight 
tree. It is also split down too easily by the wind and by sleet. 

THE CONGRESSIONAL TIMBER-CULTURE ACT. 

As this act of Congress more directly concerns and affects our western 
prairies, and the people living thereon, than is yet generally realized, I 
deem it proper and useful to give in this place, not merely the act, as 
amended, and under Avhose provisions we are now workin,g but, also, 
a tolerably full statement and history of the whole business. I am led 
to this, from the fact, that so many people are constantly enquiring as to 
its provisions, many of whom seem, by their enquiries, to be consider- 
ably confused as to their duties and requirements under the act. 

Answers made to individual enquiries, seem to be generally forgotten 
nearly as soon as answered, and I now propose to furnish such informa- 



110 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAI. 

tion as to save myself, as well as the U. S. Land Officers a large amount 
of labor that can just as well be avoided in the future. With this infor- 
mation generally in the hands of the people, many errors can be avoided, 
and much valuable time saved. 

TIMBER-CULTURE ACTS OF 1873 AND 1874; AMENDMENTS OF 1876 

AND 1877. 

An act entitled " An act to encourage the growth of Timber on West- 
ern Prairies," approved March 3, 1873, was designed to offer direct 
encouragement for the planting of trees upon the prairies. The provis- 
ions of this act were briefly, as follows : 

1. Any person who should plant, and for ten years protect and keep 
in a healtliy, growing condition, forty acres, (the trees ' being not more 
than 12 feet apart each way) upon government land, was to be entitled 
to a quarter-section (160 acres) at the end of the eight years, the facts to 
be proved by two credible witnesses. Only one-quarter of any one sec- 
tion could thus be granted. 

2. The party applying for entry was to make affidavit before the Reg- 
ister or Receiver of the proper land-district as to the purpose of the 
entry, and must pay a fee of $10, and the prescribed commissions. 

3. tJpon proof that the person who has made the entry has abandoned 
or failed to cultivate, protect, and keep in good condition the timber, 
the tract was to revert to the United States. 

4. Persons who have made a homestead entry, and who, at the end 
of the third year of residence, might have had under cultivation for two 
years one acre of timber, in the manner above designated, for each 16 
acres of said homestead, might, upon due proof, receive his patent for 
said homestead. 

5. Lands thus acquired were not to become liable for debt prior to the 
issuing of patent. 

Forms and regulations were to be issued by the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, and penalties for perjury were imposed. 

This act was amended March 13, 1874, as follows : 

The privilege of entry was confined to persons who were heads of 
families, or over 21 years of age, and were citizens of the United States, 
or had declared their intention of becoming such. The planting might 
include 40 acres in a quarter-section, or 20 acres in 80, or 10 acres in 40, 
or a fourth part of any fractional subdivision of land less than 40 acres, 
but not more than a quarter-section could be entered by one person. 

The person making the entry is required to break one-fourth of the 
area to be devoted to timber within one year from the date of entry ; 
one-fourth part more within two years, and the remaining half within 
three years from the date of entry. 

One-fourth part of the area to be planted, must be set out in timber 
within two years from the date of entry ; another fourth within three 
years, and the remaining half within four years. The same provisions 
with respect to spaces between trees and their cultivation and protection, 
that were embraced in the original act, are contained in the act as 
amended, except as to the time for maintenance before the issue of a 
patent. 

In case of the death of the person before the full amount is planted, 
his heirs are to have the option of completing his undertaking, or of 
receiving a patent for a part upon relinquishing their claim to the remain- 
der. No patent is to l)e issued sooner than eight years after entry, and 



t*OREST TREE) PLANTERS* MANUAL. Ill 

proofs of compliance with the terms of the law are required. Upon 
proof of neglect or abandonment, the land becomes liable to homestead 
entry, or entry under the provisions of the timber-culture act, but not 
until the original claimant has been notified, and opportunity given for 
defense. 

The provision relating to planting by those who had already located 
a homestead were continued, as also, the exemption from debt before 
issuing of patent. The Register and JReceiver of the district land-office 
are entitled each to receive $2 at the time of entry, and the like sum 
when the patent is issued. Those who had already made entries, were 
allowed the benefit of this act of 1874, was further amended May 20, 
1876, by adding a proviso : 

That whenever a party holding a claim under the provisions of this act, or, 
whenever making final proof under the same, shall prove by two good and cred- 
ible witnesses, that the trees planted and growing on said claim were destroyed 
by grasshoppers during any one or more years while holding said claim, said year 
or years in which said trees were so destroyed, shall not work any forfeiture of 
any of the rights or privileges conferred by this act ; and the time allowed by this 
act in which to plant the trees and make final proof, shall be extended the same 
number of years as the trees planted on the said claim were destroyed in the 
manner specified in this section. 

That the planting of seeds, nuts, or cuttings, shall be considered a compliance 
with the provisions of the timber-culture act : Provided, That such seeds, nuts, or 
cuttings of the kind, and for the purpose contemplated in the original act shall 
be properly and well planted, the ground properly prepared and cultivated ; and 
in case such seeds, nuts, or cuttings should not germinate and grow, or should be 
destroyed by the depredations of grasshoppers, or from other inevitable accident, 
that the ground shall be replanted, or the vacancies filled within one year from 
the first planting : Provided, That the parties claiming the benefit of the provis- 
ions of this act shall prove, by two good and credible witnesses, that the ground 
was properly prepared and planted in such seeds, nuts, or cuttings, and were so 
destroyed by inevitable accident in such year. 

That it shall not be necessary to plant trees, seeds, nuts or cuttings in one body, 
provided, the several bodies, not exceeding four in number, planted by measure- 
ment, aggregate the amount required, and in the time required by the original 
and amended act.f 

In rulings under this act. The General Land office has in some cases 
excepted the Osage orange, box-elder and white willow from the classes 
of timber that may be planted by those seeking to acquire title b}'- tim- 
ber culture. We are unable to see a just reason why either of these 
should be thus excluded, as each of them in its proper soil and climate 
becomes valuable. It would be difficult to find a more f)recious timber 
for wagon-making than the Bois cfarc (Osage orange) of Arkansas and 
Texas ; a more serviceable tree than the box-elder on some parts of the 
Western plains, or a better tree for screens and wind-breaks in Northern 
Iowa and Western Minnesota than the white willow. These rulings are 
not understood to have been general, and it is to be hoped they will not 
in any case be permanent. 

Some care has been taken to make personal inquiries of persons who 
have had opportunities for observing the operation of the timber-culture 
act, and in addressing circulars of inquiry for statistical information 
upon this subject, the Registers of land districts were asked to state any 
suggestions of amendment which in their judgment were desirable, some 
of these are given on the following page. With respects to its present 

tBy an act approved March 3, 1877, it is provided, that where crops were destroyed or seriously 
injured by grasshoppers, in 1877, the chiimant is allowed to be absent from his lands till October 1, 
1878, under such regulations as might be presci-ibed, and if these insects reappear in 1878, a like leave 
is granted till October 1, 1879, without prejudice of rights. 



112 FOREST TREE PLANTERS* MANUAL. 

operation, I fully concur with Hon. Leonard B. Hodges, of Minnesota, 
in his statement of the defects :t (Hough's Report, p. 19.) 

First. It is requiring more of the settler than he is able to a;ccomplish. The 
result is, in a. very large majority of cases the law is not complied with any fur- 
ther than to file the claim in the land office, pay the entry-fee, and break ten 
acres. By this time the settler begins to realize the nature of the contract he 
has undertaken to execute. He now sees clearly that he is too poor to do the 
work as it should be done. He begins to evade the plain intent and spirit of the 
law in the painful economy of time and labor he can so poorly afford to expend. 
Not that he wishes to defraud the government or shirk his responsibilities, but 
rather from an inadequate realization of what mn,st be done, and a natural desire 
to save what he has invested and can so poorly afford to lose, leads him into such 
crooked practice as we see on nine-tenths of the quarter-sections held under the 
provisions of this act. Another defect in the law is in the extreme facility land 
can be held by parties who make the claim, with no serious intention of planting 
any trees, but simply to do a little breaking and take his chances in selling his 
interest in it, in the course of the two years he can hold it, for a profit. In this 
way, and aided by extensions of time, granted on account of destruction by grass- 
hoppers and other unavoidable accidents, large quantities of very desirable gov- 
ernment land is prevented from being occupied and improved by actual settlers. 
Thousand of acres of government lands are thus held, tree of costs or taxes, and 
I see no difliculty in a company of ingenious operators, doing an extensive real 
estate business under the workings of tnis act, for quite an extended and indef- 
inite period of time. Another defect in the Congressional timber-culture act is 
the clause permitting the trees to be planted "not more than twelve feet apart 
each way." 

This is a very serious defect, and of itself virtually defeats the objects and pur- 
poses of the act. Nature shows us plainly how forests are grown, and it is folly 
on the part of Congress to evade or repeal natural laws governing the 
growth of forests. Nature plants thickly, pays no regard to the permission of 
Congress to plant so wide of the mark as twelve feet apart each way, and succeeds. 
In her own way she grows more timber and better timber on ten acres than a set- 
tler can in the mode indicated by Congress on forty acres, and at a tithe of the 
expense. To illustrate : forty acres planted twelve feet apart each way must be 
thoroughly cultivated during the growing season of each year, until the growing 
trees have attained such proportions as to shade and mulch the ground. It 
requires the constant daily labor of the settler during the growing season from 
May to August. The jjarties sought to be benefited by the act are too poor to 
give so large a portion of their time to the work. The "numan necessity for daily 
bread" compels their atcention to the care of growing crops, upon which existence 
depends. It is a notable fact that thus far the only successful and genuine cases 
of tree-planting under the provisions of this act that have come under my notice 
are those where the planter has been financially able to plant closely ; say on an 
average of four feet apart each way. 

A forest so planted, with prompt and thorough cultivation for three years, is a 
success. The chief cost is terminated in three years from planting ; the young 
trees make a straight, upright, vigorous growth ; they soon cover and shade the 
ground so thoroughly as to effectually prevent the growth of weeds or grass 
among the trees, and the annual mulcting from the falling foliage keeps the 
ground moist and friable, obviating the necessity of cultivation, and promotes the 
" healtliy growing condition " which the act of Congress very properly requires. 

On the other hand, the evasions of the law are painfully conspicuous. In many 
instances strips of breaking three or four feet wide, parallel with each other, are 
either planted with tree-seeds or cuttings, so as to bring them within the distani-e 
allowed by law. The planting is usually done in the raw sod, left without care or 
cultivation, smothered in rank weeds and grass, and swept over b)^ successive 
prairie fires. It is difficult to employ language sufficiently vigorous in denouncing 
such childish folly. It is as idle to expect to grow a crop of forty acres of forest- 
trees without first breaking every foot, then followed after the decomposition of 
the sod by thoi'ough plowing and repeated harrowing, as it would be to expect to 
grow a paying crop of corn by digging post holes 12 feet eachway on the unbroken 
prairie and dropping the seeds therein. A modification of the timber-culture act 

f'Report of State Forestry Association," 1877, p. 44. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 113 

requiring the settler to plant not less than 2,700 trees per acre, instead of 300, 
and ten acres instead of forty, would accomplish the objects contemplated by the 
framers of the act, and in time prove an incalculable blessing to the treeless 
wastes of the Western and Northwestern States and Territories. * * * The 
law, to be available and productive of the greatest good to the people and to the 
country, should be so amended as to allow^ all who have already made claims 
under its provisions to be allowed to plant ten acres instead of forty ; to plant not 
more than 4 feet apart each way, and to be planted within four years; two and a 
half acres the second year ; two and a half the third, and five the fourth. The 
claimant should be compelled to report the actual condition of his timber planta- 
tion annually to the Register of the land office of the districts in which the land 
is located. He should be, by the terms of the act, compelled to do his work in a 
thorough and workmanlike manner, to keep the ground well and thoroughly cul- 
tivated, until such time as the growth and development of the trees shall have 
rendered such further cultivation impracticable and unnecessary. And he should 
be required to fill all vacancies occurring from any cause within one year ; such 
report to be verified by the affidavit of the claimant and also by the affidavits of 
two competent and disinterested witnesses, failing in which the land should be 
open to settlement by other parties. 

It is urged in objection to such modifications of the timber-culture act, that 
Congress never would consent to give away sixteen acres of land for the plantng 
of one acre of timber. 

Now this objection brings up one more modification, and that is to make the 
provisions of the act cover every quarter section of government j^rairie land with- 
in the limits of what is universally recognized as the "treeless region," instead as 
now only every fourth quarter-section. 

This brings us along to the act we are now working under— a wonder- 
ful improvement over the previous laws, and a long step in the right 
direction. Here it is official, and fresh from the United States General 
Land office at Washington : 

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An Act to encourage the growth of timber on 

the Western Prairies." 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the act entitled " An Act to 
amend the act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the 
Western Prairies," approved March thirteenth, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-four, be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as fol- 
lows : That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived 
at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or 
who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as re- 
quired by the naturalization laws of the United States, who shall plant, 
protect, and keep in a healthy, growing condition for eight years ten 
acres of timber, on any quarter-section of any of the public lands of the 
United States, or five acres of any legal subdivision of eighty acres, or 
two and one-half acres on any legal subdivision of forty acres or less, 
shall be entitled to a patent for the whole of said qUarter-section, or of 
such legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres, or fractional subdivision 
of less than forty acres, as the case may be, at the expiration of said 
eight years, on making proof of such fact by not less than two credible 
witnesses, and a full compliance of the further conditions as provided in 
section two : Provided further, That not more than one quarter of any 
section shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make more than 
one entry under the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 2. That the person applying for the benefits of this act shall, 
upon aplication to the register of the land district in which he or she is 
about to make such entry, make afiidavit, before the register or the 
receiver, or the clerk of some court of record, or officer authorized to ad- 
minister oaths in the district where the land is situated; which affidavit 



il4 FOREST TREE PLANTERS^ MANUAt. 

shall be as follows, to wit : I, -, having filed my application, num- 
ber , for an entry under tlie provisions of an act entitled " An Act 

to amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on 

the Western Prairies,'" approved > 187- do solemnly swear (or 

affirm) that I am the head of a family (or over twenty-one years of age), 
and a citizen of the United States (or have declared my intention to be- 
come such); that the section of land specified in my said application is 
composed exclusivel}^ of prairie lands, or other lands devoid of timber ; 
that this filing and entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and for 
my own exclusive use and benefit; that I have made the application in 
good faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or directly or indi- 
rectly for the use or benefit of any other jDcrson whomsoever ; that I 
intend to hold and cultivate the land, and to fully comply with the pro- 
visions of this act ; and that I have not heretofore made an entry under 
this act, or the acts of which this is amendatory. And upon filing said 
affidavit with said register and said receiver, and on payment of ten dol- 
lars if the tract applied for is more than eighty acres, and five dollars if 
it is eighty acres or less, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter 
the quantity of land specified ; and the party making an entry of a quar- 
ter-section under the provisions of this act shall be required to break or 
plow five acres covered thereby the first year, five acres the second year, 
and to cultivate to crop or otherwise the first five acres broken or plowed 
the first year; the third year he or she shall cultivate to crop or other- 
wise the five acres broken the second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, 
or cuttings the five first broken or plowed, and to cultivate and put in 
crop or otherwise the remaining five acres, and the fourth year to plant 
in timber, seeds, or cuttings the remaining five acres. All entries of less 
quantity than one quarter-section shall be plowed, planted, cultivated 
and planted to trees, tree-seeds, or cuttings, in the same manner and in 
the same proportion as hereinbefore provided for a quarter-section. Pro- 
vided, however. That in case such trees, seeds, or cuttings shall be destroyed 
by grasshoppers, or by extreme and unusual drouth, for any year or 
term of years, the time for planting such trees, seeds, or cuttings shall be 
extended one year for every such year that they are so destroyed : Pro- 
vided further, That the person making such entry shall, before he or she 
shall be entitled to such extension of time, file with the register and 
the receiver of the proper land office an affidavit, corroborated by two 
witnesses, setting forth the destruction of such trees, and that, in conse- 
quence of such destruction, he or she is compelled to ask an extention 
of time, in accordance with the provisions of this act: And provided 
further, That no final certificate shall be given, or patent issued, for the 
land so entered until the expiration of eight years from the date of such 
entry ; and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within five 
years thereafter, the person making such entry, or, if he or she be dead, 
his or her heirs or legal representatives, shall prove by two credible wit- 
nesses that he or she or they have planted, and, for not less than eight 
years, have cultivated and protected such quantity and character of trees 
as aforesaid ; that not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted 
on each acre, and that at the time of making such proof that there shall 
be then growing at least six hundred and seventy-five living and thrifty 
trees to each acre, they shall receive a patent for such tract of land. 

Sec. 3 That if at any time after the filing of said affidavit, and prior 
to the issuing of tlie patent for said land, if the claimantshallfailto com- 
ply with any of the requirements of this act, then and in that event 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 115 

such land shall be subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by some 
other person under the provisions of this act: Provided, That the party 
making claim to said land, either as a homestead settler, or under this act, 
shall give, at the time of filing his application, such notice to the origi- 
nal claimant as shall be prescribed by the rules established by the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office; and the rights of the parties shall 
be determined as in other contested cases. 

Sec. 4. That no land acquired under the provisions of this act shall 
in any event, become liable to the staisfaction of any debt or debts con- 
tracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate thereof. 

Sec. 5. That the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby 
required to prepare and issue such rules and regulations, consistent witli 
this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into 
effect; and that the registers and receivers of the several land offices 
shall each be entitled to receive two dollars at the time of entry, and the 
like sum when the claim is finally established and the final certificate 
issued. 

Sec. 6. That the fifth section of the act entitled " An Act in addition 
to an act to punish crimes against the United States, and for other pur- 
poses," approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall 
extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits required or authorized by 
this act. 

Sec. 7. That parties who have already made entries under the acts 
approved March third^ eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and March 
thirteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, of which this is amenda- 
tory, shall be permitted to complete the same upon full compliance with 
the provisions of this act , that is, they shall, at the time of making their 
final ^ proof, have had under cultivation, as required by this act, an 
amount of timber sufficient to make the number of acres required by 
this act. 

Sec. 8. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby 
repealed. 

Approved June 14, 1878. 

And now, by connecting with the amendmend law the following 
explanations of the changes made, together with the regulations, issued by 
the Department of the Interior, General Land Office, Washington D. C. 
Oct. 1st, 1878. We have all the information necessary for any one to 
enable him to fully understand his duties, obligations, and rights under 
the congressional timber culture act. Please study the law, the official 
explanations and regulations and you will then know for yourselves 
more than you can possibly learn by writing to any one for information 
on this subject. 

LAWS TO PROMOTE TIMBER CULTURE. 

The timber culture act of March 3, 1873, having been amended by the 
act of March 13, 1874, the latter has been further amended by the act of 
June 14, 1878. 

I. — Certain provisions of the act of March 13, 1874, are repealed by 
the act of June 14, 1878. 

1. The act of March 13, 1874, at the close of its first section, contains 
the following; " Provided, That no more than one quarter of any section 
shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make no more than one 
entry under the provisions of this act, unless fractional subdivisions of 
less than forty acres are entered, which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed 



116 

one quarter section." In the act of June 14, 1878, the concluding words, 
" unless fractional subdivisions of less than forty acres are entered, 
which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one quarter section," are omit- 
ted. Hence, the rule forbidding more than one entry is made universal, 
and will govern in all future cases. 

2 The provisions of the act of March, 13, 1874, requiring that, the trees 
sh all be not " more than twelve feet apart each way," is omitted from 
the act of June 14, 1878. The latter requires, however, that the final 
proof shall show "that not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were 
planted on each acre, and that at the time of making such proof there 
shall be growing at least six hundred and seventy-five living and thrifty 
trees to each acre." 

3. The closing sentence of the second section of the act of March 13, 
1874, provides that " in case of the death of a person who has complied 
with the provisions of this act for the period of three years, his heirs or 
legal representatives shall have the option to comply with the provisions 
of this act, and receive, at the expiration of eight years, a patent for one 
hundred and sixty acres, or receive, without delay, a patent for forty 
acres, relinquish ling all claim to the remainder." This provision is not 
contained in the act of June 14, 1878. 

4. The following section of the act March 13, 1874, relating to home- 
stead entries on which timber is cultivated, is omitted from the act of 
June 14, 1878: 

Sec. 4 That each and every person who, under the provisions of the act entitled 
" An Act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the pubHc domain," approved 
May twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, or any amendment thereto, hav- 
ing a homestead on said pubHc domain, who, at any time after the end of the 
third year of his or her residence thereon, shah, in addition to the settlement and 
improvements now required by law, have had under cultivation, for two years, 
one acre of timber, the trees thereon not being more than twelve feet apart each 
way, and in good thrifty condition, for each and every sixteen acres of said home- 
stead, shall, upon due proof of such fact by two credible witnesses, receive his or 
her patent for said homestead. 

The rights of claimants under entries actually made according to the 
act of March 13, 1874, before the 14th of June, 1878, when the amenda- 
tory took effect, are not affected by the repeal of the provisions referred 
to. The parties interested, if they so elect, may consummate their entries 
according to the provisions of the act under which they were initiated. 
And homestead entries made before the 14th June, 1878, will be patented 
according to the fourth section above quoted, where the facts are such as 
to bring the cases within its provisions and the interested parties so 
desire. But entries made since that time must be adjusted according to 
the principles of the law as modified by the amendatory act. 

II. — The principal points to be observed in proceedings thereunder, 
may be stated as follows : 

1. The privilege of entry under the act of June 14, 1878, is confined 
to persons who are heads of families, or over twenty-one years of age, 
and who are citizens of the United States, or liave declared their inten- 
tion to become such, according to the naturalization laws. 

2. The affidavit required for initiating an entry under the act of June 
14, 1878, may be made before the register or receiver of the district office 
for tlie land district embracing the desired tract, before the clerk of some 
court of record, or before any officer authorized to administer oaths in 
that disti'ict. 

3. Not more than one lumdred and sixty acres in any one section can 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 117 

be entered under this act, and no person can make more than one entry 
thereunder, 

4. The ratio of area required to be broken, planted, etc., in all entries un- 
der the act of June 14, 1878, is one-sixteenth of the land embraced in the 
entry, except where the entered tract is less than forty acres, in which case 
it is one-sixteenth of that quantity. The party making an entry of a quar- 
ter section, or one hundred and sixty acres, is required to break or plow 
five acres covered thereby during the first year, and five acres in addition 
during the second year. The five acres broken or plowed during the 
first year, he is required to cultivate by raising a crop, or otherwise, dur- 
ing the second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings, during 
the third year. The five acres broken or plowed during the second year, 
he is required to cultivate, by raising a crop, or otherwise, during the 
third year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings, during the fourth 
year. The tracts embraced in entries of a less quantity than one quar- 
ter section are required to be broken or plowed, cultivated, and planted 
in trees, tree-seeds, or cuttings, during the same periods, and to the same 
extent, in proportion to their total areas, as are jirovided for in entries of 
a quarter section. Provision is made in the act for an extension of time 
in case the trees, seeds, or cuttings planted should be destroyed by grass- 
hoppers or by extreme and unusual drought. 

5. If, at the expiration of eight years from the date of entry, or at any 
time within five years thereafter, the person making the entry, or, if he 
be dead, his heirs or legal representatives, shall prove, by two credible 
witnesses, the planting, cultivating, and protecting of the timber for not 
less than eight years, according to the provisions of the act of June 14, 
1878, he, or they, will be entitled to a patent for the land embraced in 
the entry. 

6. If, at any time after one year from the date of entry, and prior to 
the issue of a patent therefor, the claimant shall fail to comply with any 
of the requirements of that act, then, and in that event, such entry will 
become liable to a contest in the manner provided in homestead cases, 
and upon due proof of such failure the entry will be canceled, and the 
land become again subject to entry under the homesteadlaAvs, orbysome 
other person under the act of June 14, 1878. 

7. No land acquired under the jDrovisions of the act of June 14, 1878, 
Avill in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts 
contracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. 

8. The fees for enterics under the act of June 14, 1878, are ten dollars, 
if the tract applied for is more than eighty acres; and five dollars, if it 
is eighty acres or less ; and the commissions of registers and receivers on 
all entries (irrespective of area) are four dollars (two dollars to each) at 
the date of entry, and a like sum at the date of final proof. 

9. No distinction is made, as to area or the amount of fee and com- 
missions, between minimum and double-minimum lands. A party may 
enter one hundred and sixty acres of either on payment of the prescribed 
fee and commissions. 

10. The fifth section of the act approved March 3, 1857, entitled " An 
Act in addition to an act to punish crimes against the United States, and 
for other purposes," is extended to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits 
required or authorized by the act of June 14, 1878. 

11. Parties who have already made entries under the timber culture 
acts of March 3, 1873, and March 13, 1874, of which the act of June 14, 
1878, is amendatory, may complete the same by compliance with the 



118 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

reqirements of the latter act; that is, they may do so by showing, at the 
time of making their final proof, that they have had under cultivation, 
as required by the act of June 14, 1878, an amount of timber sufficient 
to make the number of acres required thereby, being one-fourth the num- 
ber required by the former acts. 

III. — The following regulations are prescribed pursuant to the fifth 
section of the act of .June 14, 1878, viz : 

1. The register and receiver will not restrict entries under this act to 
one quarter section only in each section, as was formerly done under the 
acts to which this is amendatory, but may allow entries to be made of 
subdivisions of different quarter sections ; provided that each entry shall 
form a compact body, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, and 
that no more than that quantity shall be entered in any one section. 
Before allowing any entry applied for, they will, by a careful examina- 
tion of the plat and tract-books with reference to any pre-\dous entry or 
entries within the limits of the same section, satisfy themselves that the 
desired entry is admissible under this rule. 

2. When they shall have satisfied themselves that the land applied for 
is properly subject to such entry, they will require the party to make the 
prescribed afiidavit, and to pay the fee and that part of the commissions 
payable at the date of entry, and the receiver will issue his receipt there- 
for, in duplicate, giving the party a duplicate receipt. They will num- 
ber the entry in its order, in a separate series of numbers, unless the}^ 
have already a series under the acts to which this act is amendatory, in 
which case they will number the entry as one of that series ; they will 
note the entry on their records and report it in their monthly returns, 
sending up all the papers therein, with an abstract of the entries allowed 
during the month under this act. If the affidavit is made before a jus- 
tice of the peace, which the act admits of, his ofiicial character and the 
genuineness of his signature must be certified under seal. 

3. When a contest is instituted, as contemplated in the third section 
of the act of June 14, 1878, the contestant ^vill be allowed to make ap- 
plication to enter the land. The register will thereupon indorse on the 
application the date of its presentation, and will make the application, 
and the contestant's affidavit setting forth the grounds of contest, the 
basis for farther proceedings, these papers to accompany the report sub- 
mitting the case to the General Land Office. Should the contest result 
in the cancellation of the contested entry, the contestant may then 
perfect his own, but no preference right will be allowed unless applica- 
tion is made by him at date of instituting contest. 

4. The fees and commissions in this class of entries, the receiver will 
account for in the usual manner, indicating the same as fees and com- 
missions on timber-culture entries, which will be charged against the 
maximum of $3,000 now allowed by law. 

5. In all cases under this act, it will be required that trees shall be 
cultivated which shall be of the class included in the term "timber,''^ the 
cultivation of shrubbery and fruit trees not being sufficient. 

6. The applications, affidavits, and receipts in entries allowed under 
the act of June 14, 1878, will be made out according to the forms hereto 
attached, Nos. 38, 39 and 40. 

PRUNING AND THINNING. 

On tree-pruning, a great difference of opinion exists. You don't want 
to prune your trees late in the winter, nor when the sap is flowing freely. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 119 

As to the exact time when to prune, I do not attach much importance ; 
so you do your pruning as soon as the tree needs it. When you grow a 
young forest, you can almost do your pruning with your thumb and 
finger, by pinching off the young shoots soon after they start. But, 
when you have neglected this, and the limbs have been allowed to have 
their own way any length of time, then the pruning knife or saw must 
be brought into requisition. In my own experience, I have found any 
time after the leaves are full grown, until late in the fall, is a good time 
enough to prune in Minnesota. I doubt if any rules can be properly 
given on this subject. Your own judgment and common sense must 
direct you largely in this matter. For wind-breaks, very little, if any 
pruning is necessary. For a shade tree, you so prune as to form a wide 
spreading top ; but, for a young forest, in which the growing of timber 
is the main object, you so prune as to get a long, straight body as free 
from branches as possible ; and if your young forest have been as 
thickly planted as it should be, nature will do most of the pruning, 
nearly, or quite as well as need be. First, know what you want of your 
tree, and then prune accordingh'. You can so prune, and direct its 
growth as to give it almost any shape you choose. Bryant says : 

" In pruning young trees designed for timber, the symmetry of their form is the 
lirst consideration. When taken from the seed-bed, all side-branches should be 
cut off ; onlj' one leading shoot should be allowed, which must not be permitted 
to fork. All side branches which approach in size and vigor to the leading shoot, 
should be shortened or cut off entirely. Suckers from the base of the tree should 
be cut awaJ^" 

Bryant also, says : 

" The best time to prune is, in mj opinion, the autumn after the trees have 
ceased their growth. The worst time to prune, is the latter part of winter, and 
in the spring, just before or during the first flow of sap. * * * * * 
^Nevertheless, when trees are transplanted in spring, they may be pruned, as they 
do not bleed when recently taken up. AVhen the young trees become large 
enough to crowd, or materially check each other in growth, thej- must be thinned 
to one foot apart in the rows. Care should be taken to leave the straightest and 
most vigorous trees. The thinning may be continued gradually, as the trees grow 
larger, and those cut out, used for purposes to which their size and quality are 
adapted." 

Fuller says : 

" If the trees are properly pruned when young, there will be nu necessity for 
taking oflE" large branches when they become old. Too many branches must not 
be taken oflf at one time, as leaves are indispensable to growth ; but young trees 
may produce more leaves than is necessary for a healthy growth, and a reduction 
in number may increase rather than decrease strength. * * -s^ * Pruning 
should not be practiced to such an extent that the tree may be eventually weak- 
ened or checked in growth. * '■' * * * * Trees, when standing alone, 
should have, at least, two-thirds of their height occupied with branches. But, 
when grown in thickets, and for the purpose of producing timber, this rule may 
be reversed, and the branches occupy only one-third, varying the rule according 
to the natural habit of the tree." - * * *. 

Fuller also, says further : 

" There is no better time (to prune) than in summer, after the leaves have be- 
come fully formed, and the tree has commenced to make a new growth. -****. 
Pruning may also be done any time in summer, fall, or early winter. * * * * 

* * Midsummer is the best time to prune all resinous trees." 

In pruning, use a sharp knife, and make a clean, smooth, upward 
cut. Should the branches be too large for a knife, use a fine-tooth saw, 
smoothing off the wound with a sharp knife. Where large wounds are 
made, an application of common grafting-wax, or cow-manure when 
Avarm, will exclude the air until there will be little danger of decay. 



120 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

MOUNTAIN FORESTS AND THE WATER SUPPLY OF THE CONTINENT. 



An Open Letter to the Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, from Dr. John A. 
Warder, President of the American Forestry Association. 

North Bend, Ohio, January 8th, 1879. 
Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior : 

My Dear Sir — Observations made on a previous visit to Colorado, 
and again during the past season, in a journey on the Medicine Bow- 
Range, in Wyoming, with my friend. Governor J. W. Hoyt, have filled 
me with apprehensions as to the future water supply of our Western 
rivers. 

The destruction of the forests by fire is a most fearful and melancholy 
subject to contemplate. An inspection of portions of the public domain 
by one who has studied the subject, and who has either read of or wit- 
nessed the disastrous effects of the spoiliation of the forests in elevated 
mountain heights, can not fail to fill the mind with the most serious 
apprehensions. 

Your efforts, my dear Secretary, on behalf of the forests are highly 
appreciated by those of us who have made the influence of the woods 
upon the water supply of our country, a matter of study. 

The mountains (up a certain elevation, close to the limit of perpetual 
congelation) were designed for the forests, nor should they ever be 
stripped of their aboreal covering ; for, as you have well said in your 
report of last year, if the forests in such regions be once destroyed they 
will never be restored. 

It were a work of supererogation, my dear sir, to attempt an explana- 
tion or rationale of the action of the forests as receivers, reservoirs and 
fountains of waters, to one who is evidently so well informed in regard 
to forest science as yourself, whom I have been induced to suspect of 
having been a pupil of Ebermayer, of Bernhardt, of Judeich, of Burck- 
hardt, or some others of the magnates in Foerstwirthschaf of the Vater- 
land. 

But to return to Wyoming, and what was seen while traversing a broad 
plateau of the range, and passing through a glorious forest primeval — a 
very Uhrwald. This is composed chiefly of pines, and among them, in 
the lower and damper spots, the most lovely firs and spruces reared their 
tall shafts, clothed with a mystic drapery of depending boughs, bearing 
silvery green foliage of the Menzies, Douglas and Englemann spruces, 
and of the Grandis firs. While contemplating these noble trees, we sud- 
denly came upon a scene of appalling desolation. Upon a tract of many 
square miles in extent, as far as the eye could reach, in every direction, 
over many thousands of acres, there was not a living tree to be seen ! 
All, all were standing bare, stark and stiff in death, their tall, dead 
trunks blackened by fire, except where time had come to their relief and 
stripped off the bark, leaving the bare poles that stood beside the way 
like shivering ghosts in purgatory, waiting until the storms of years 
should come to their relief and prostrate them to the earth that bore 
them, when they would at length gradually crumble into mold to reno- 
vate the soil, which had been deprived of all its humus by the fierce 
flames. 

The forest is destroyed, the noble trees are dead and gone, too often, 
never in our time, to return and be a kindly covering and befitting garni- 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 121 

tiire to these sad wastes ; nor to clothe these mountain sides with verdure. 
Continued and continuous desolation is their doom ! 

Practically speaking, this is and must be so; whence can come 
the seed-germs for the future aforesting of such extensive tracts ? Man, 
the improvident destructive, will not do it ; the kindly winds can trans- 
port the winged seeds but a short distance from the parent trees ; the 
cunning and provident squirrel has a still more limited range within 
which to carry the seeds he may gather, and, with wise instinct, store up 
for his liberal repast, from which a few might escape to germinate and 
form nuclei, producing at length seeds for further transportaion in the 
future. 

Ages must be required to restore these forests in the course of nature, 
and meanwhile the degrading agencies of every storm will be carrying 
away the soil and scarring the mountain sides with frightful gullies, 
occupied at times with violent torrents, for there is no longer any her- 
bage, no moss, nor brush, nor any debris to cover the surface, and, 
sponge-like, to absorb and retain the precipitated moisture. 

Yes, my good Secretary, you are perfectly right in your assertion that 
in these bared mountains the forests will never be restored. When thus 
ruthlessly destroyed, in certain situations, and over such vast areas, 
practically speaking in reference to any period of time that it is worth 
our while to calculate upon, any time that we or our progeny for many 
generations need take any account of, this is true. 

Prevention. 

But, it may be asked, can not these terribly destructive fires be pre- 
vented? Can not the calamitous results that must follow be avoided? 
Yes ! Yes ! They may, and they must be prevented, and that at once, 
lest our fair continent become a desert, unfitted for the many millions it 
is capable of happily sustaining upon the broad territory of her fruitful 
bosom. 

That is, indeed, a great question, requiring the exercise of a high order 
of statesmanship. It is truly a difficult question, but the interests at 
stake are enormous, and are of infinitely greater importance to this 
Nation than deciding who of all the great army of office-seekers shall be 
gratified by an appointment to this or that petty place under the Gov- 
ernment. Oh, that we could be blessed with a race of statesmen capa- 
ble of grasping such problems as this ! 

Yes, the interests at stake are really enormous ; they involve the wel- 
fare of the country, since they concern the very existence and perma- 
nence of our rivers. If neglected, will not the future explorer of the 
vast Sahara that may be spread from the eastern slope of these moun- 
tains, find, amid the shifting sands of that wide desert, only depressions 
of the surface, marking the ancient beds of our great rivers and their 
numerous tributaries, in that American Sahara, as ChampoUion observed 
them in the wastes of Northern Africa ; of which he said : " And so, 
the astonishing truth dawns upon us, that this desert may once have 
been a region of groves and fountains, and the abode of happy millions. 
Is there any crime against Nature which draws down a more terrible 
curse than that of stripping Mother Earth of her sylvan covering ? The 
hand of man has produced this desert, and, I verily believe, every other 
desert upon the surface of this earth. Earth was Eden once, and our 
misery is the punishment of our sins against the world of plants. The 



122 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

burning sun of the desert is the angel with the flaming sword who 
stands between us and Paradise." 

But now shall this great work be accomplished ? How shall we pre- 
serve these treasure houses of the snow and rain, that they shall steadily 
distill the streams that are to feed our rivers ? 

By wise legislation, after we shall have enlightened the public upon 
the subject of an advanced forest science, and educated them up to a- 
proper appreciation of the importance, and of the special functions of 
the forests on these mountain heights as conservers of moisture, as receiv- 
ers and as reservoirs of the water supplies of a large portion of the con- 
tinent. 

When so educated, and fully informed upon these important truths by 
an enlightened public sentiment, the people will become more careful in 
the use of this dangerous agent ; they will be more watchful of their 
camp fires, and will compel others to be more careful, and they will 
stamp out the first beginnings of a conflagration. 

In addition to this enlighted sentiment, and complementary to it legis- 
lation, will be needed to operate upon those who may wickedly or igno- 
rantly transgress. 

Some of your own excellent suggestions, Mr. Secretary, as they were 
incorporated in the bill of Senator Plumb, of Kansas, (Sen. No. 609,) 
would prove valuable as preventive measures, if enacted ; especially the 
appointment of Forest Gruards, (Forest Waerter,) in the third section, and 
prescribing their duties. 

Section 13 of this proposed law is one of great importance, being in- 
tended to furnish protection against fires on the public domain, whether 
prairies or timber. This is a much-needed provision, which has never 
before existed in the case of Government lands, though provided for by 
some of the States. The losses by fires are enormous, and should be 
prevented. 

We all know by sad and painful experience, how difiicult at ask it is 
for the philanthrophist who presents a simple proposition for the public 
good, how great soever its importance, to arrest the attention of the pub- 
lic. We have also learned how almost impossible it is to reach the ear 
of the law-making powers, and to excite in their minds an active inter- 
est in such questions as are here presented; in a word, how herculean an 
undertaking is presented when we attempt to educate the people, and 
those who represent them in the halls of Congress, up to a proper and 
full appreciation , of such a subject as this of forestry, which so deeply 
concerns the public weal. 

More especially unpromising does such an efi'ort appear when an at- 
tempt is made to impress upon their minds the absolute neccessity of 
keeping these extensive ranges of mountain hights in a condition best 
adapted to attract and condense the atmospheric humidity, to receive the 
precipitation, to retain it for a time, and then gradually and quickly to 
give off", through perennial springs, the fluid to supply the fertilizing 
streams, that shall fill the rivers, which are so happily and so extensively 
distributed over our great continent. 

And now, Mr. Secretary, hoping tluit you will excuse the prolixity 
which must unavoidably attend the briefest exposition of the subject, be 
pleased to accept the thanks of your countrymen for the noble stand 
you have taken in defense of our forests on the public domain ; and 
allow an humble student of the great leaders and teachers of forest 
science, on behalf of his associates in the upbuilding of an American 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 123 

Forestry, to beg your continuance in these efforts in behalf of the protect- 
ion, preservation and extention of our heritage of woodlands. 
Very respectfully yours, 

JNO. A. WARDER, M. D., 

President A. F. A. 



From Pioneer Press of January 15, 1879. 

TIMBER CULTURE. 

Annual Meeting of the Minnesota Forestry Association — A Review of the Business of the 
Year and Re-election of Officers. 



An annual meeting of the State Forestry Association was held at the 
capitol last evening, Mr. Ignatius Donnelly in the chair and Mr. L. B. 
Hodges at the secretary's desk. 

Mr. Donnelh/s Annual Address. 

About the first business in order, was the delivery of the annual 
address of the president, which was listened to with great interest by the 
audience. After an interesting review of forest culture in Europe, Mr. 
Donnelly said: 

One of our unsolved problems is the origin of these prairies. Some 
have claimed that they are due to a pecularity of the constitution of 
the soil, which renders them unfit for the production of trees, but this 
theory seems to be disproved by the fact that trees can be readily pro- 
duced upon them ; and that a spontaneous growth of forest soon follows 
the exclusion of the fires. Neither can we ascribe their first existence 
to these fires, for this vast region must have existed long before the In- 
dians could have been developed to apply the fire to the autumnal grass. 
As soon as this portion of the continent emerged from the condition of 
great lakes or lagoons and became marshes, trees must have sprung up 
and covered the land, and long before man appeared on the scene, with 
any knowledge of the use of fire, the country must have assumed the 
character of a densely wooded region, which no conflagration could 
destroy. If the soil was once denuded of its forest it would, indeed, be 
easy for the prairie fires, kindled by savages, to keep down the growth 
of young trees, and produce the state of things which the white settlers 
found here ; but what agency could, in the first place, have destroyed the 
ancient forest growth, as heavy and dank as that of the everglades of 
the South or the pine woods of Canada? It must be remembered that 
the true prairie region, apart from the painless plains, is confined to cer- 
tain prescribed limits, viz.: "The western part of Ohio, nearly the whole 
of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, the southern part of Michigan, the north- 
ern part of Missouri, and portions of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas and 
Nebraska." 

It would seem that either man must have existed, with a knowledge 
of the uses of fires, at the time the swamps of this inter-continental 
region were drained off sufficiently by the accretion of the soil or the 
rising of the continent, to produce' trees ; and this would be, indeed, a 
violent presumption ; or else it would appear probable that some human 
agency must have swept away the forest through all this region, precisely 
as it was destroyed by white men, in the interest of agriculture, in 
Europe. * * * I * * * . * 



124 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

It would seem not improbable that on this continent was worked out, 
under the directing intelligence of the di^dne Architect, the great scheme 
of develojiment. The explorations of Prof. 0. C. Marsh, of Yale Col- 
lege, in the Bad Lands at the base of the Rocky Mountains, demonstrate 
that in that region were originated the elephant, the rhinocerous, the 
tapir, the horse, the lion, the hyena, the monkey, the hog, and the camel. 
And it is not improbable that on this continent human civilization 
began. Here alone, as shown in a recent lecture of Dr. David Day, 
traditions are preserved by existing races of the rise of man from a 
brutish condition, the invention of the bow and arrow, and the first 
working in metal. The iron age was preceded by the bronze age. 
Bronze is an amalgam of copper and tin, and must have followed, prob- 
ably at a vast interval, the use of copper itself; and only in America 
do we find traces of an age when copper was used alone ; and only on 
Lake Superior do we find copper in so pure a state as to be capable of 
being worked into implements without smelting ; and there, too, we find 
vast remains of ancient mining, evidently carried on for ages by some 
extinct race; and in the Chippewa legends we have the traditions of the 
manufacture of the first copper implement. In Mexico the Aztecs had 
learned the art of hardening the edges of their cutting tools with tin, thus 
prdoucing a veritable bronze. Here then we have in unbroken succes- 
sion the genesis of metallurgy, stretching from the shores of Lake Super- 
ior to Astyri, India and Egypt. ***** 

It is a strange, but not altogether improbable suggestion, that all the 
prairie region was once occupied by the fields and gardens of a vast, 
populous, peaceful, agricultural, religious people ; as numerous as the 
inhabitants of Egypt, in the days of the Rameses. It is well known 
that their monuments do not extend east of Ohio ; neither do prairies. 
It can be supposed that thousands of years ago they were driven south- 
ward to Mexico and Yucatan, by savage tribes, and then began a strug- 
gle, which has lasted to our day, between the prairie-fires and the ad- 
vancing forest, the latter crowding in from north, south, east and west, 
and sheltering itself behind every lake and river from the tongues of 
flame kindled annually by the Indians. ***** 

The problem to which our people must address themselves, is how to 
make these mighty plains pleasant homes for human beings ; how to 
stop the sweep of the great winds which pour down on them from Mac- 
kenzie's river and the Rocky Mountains ; for homes, to be pleasant, 
should be built, like birds' nests, amid the trees. If man has swept 
away the forests from whole continents to procure fields, surely he has 
genius and power enough to re-create lines of forest to protect the fields 
which nature, or the labors of another race, has given him. It must 
certainly be a harder task to lay bare of trees a thousand acres than to 
fence it with groves. But construction needs a higher genius tlian de- 
struction. " He who plants a tree labors for posterity," says the pro- 
verb ; and some are inclined to ask, in the words of Sir Boyle Roche : 
" What has posterity done for me ?" Hence, only the highest repre- 
sentatives of the highest races are equal to the task of planting a crop 
that will not ripen for ten or twenty years. 

I need not speak to you of the effects of forest-growth upon the 
climate of a country ; with all that you are familiar. It would appear 
as if the movements of storms were determined by the laws Of electric- 
ity. The tendency of showers to follow wooded hills and river courses 
has often been observed. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 125 

W. W. Johnson, one of the Smithsonian Reporters, writes from the 
valleys of Montana : " The showers of summer are of much more fre- 
quent occurrence along the mountain sides, and are always of longer 
duration among the timbered peaks and foot-hills, than in the lower and 
treeless portions of the country." 

I have every reason to believe that the presonce of groves, dotting the 
whole extent of our prairies, would tend to equalize the fall of rain, and 
prevent the excessive droughs which we suffer from at certain periods, 
and the deluging storms which aflBlict us at other times. In fact, we are 
now in the midst of a very curious experiment, viz : the effect upon 
climate of the breaking up of the soil and the construction of railroads 
and telegraph lines. 

R. S. Elliott, industrial agent of the Kansas Pacific Railroad company, 
writes to Prof. Henry, in 1870 : '' Facts such as these, seem to sustain 
the popular persuasion in Kansas, that a climatic change is taking place, 
promoted by the spread of settlements westwardly, breaking up portions 
of the prairie soil, covering the earth with plants that shade the ground 
more than the short grasses, thus checking or modifying the reflection 
of heat from the earth's surface. The fact is also noted, that even where 
the prairie soil is not disturbed, the short buffalo-grass disappears as the 
frontier extends westward, and its place is taken by grasses and other 
herbage of taller growth. The civil engineers of this railway believe 
that the rains and humidity of the plains have increased during the 
extension of the railroads and telegraphs across them. What effect, if 
any, the digging and grading, the iron rails, the tension of steam in loco- 
motives, the friction of metallic surfaces, the poles and wires, the action 
of batteries, etc., could possibly have on the electrical conditions, as con- 
nected with the phenomena of precipitation, I do not, of course, under- 
take to say. It may be that wet seasons have merely happened to coin- 
cide with railroads and telegraphy." 

A recent writer from Bismarck, D. T., speaking of an old settler in 
Montana, says : " Clendenning is agent of all the transportation com- 
panies that have occasion to unload freight at Carroll. He has noticed 
that the water is increasing in consequence of the additional rains. He 
observes that cooleys, formerly dry in the fall, are now full of water. 
The irrigation was unnecessary this year, and the Indians observe the 
change. Civilization is turning Montana into a wet country." 

It would appear probable, that when four broad, double bands of iron 
and numerous telegraph wires extend across the continent from Texas, 
from Omaha, from Duluth, and from Winnipeg, united at their eastern 
and western extremities by rivers, mountain chains, forests, and a grid- 
iron of other railroads and telegraphs that climatic changes may result 
of the most surprising character. The prosperity or the poverty of 
great sections may depend upon causes now but little understood. If it 
be true, as alleged, that earthquakes have ceased in California since the 
construction of the Union Pacific railroad; and if it be also true, as 
claimed by others, that earthquakes are electrical — the thunder-storms 
of the earth — what strange results may not follow when man's enter- 
prise ribs all the continent with conductors of electricity hundreds of 
thousands of miles in length ? 

If I was required to furnish a motto for our society, it would be the 
one word, "Perseverance." Only those who have passed through it can 
understand the long, hard, dark, continuous struggle which awaits the 
settler in a new country ; the battle with nature, her cruelties and uncer- 



126 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

tainties, on the one hand ; and the conflict with his fellow-man, his 
greed, his cunning and his rapacity, on the other. The pioneer-farmer 
seems sometimes to stand alone with everything in air, and on earth 
making war on him ; was nothing left to him but his indomitable soul. 
For such a man, so struggling neck-deep in distress, to plant groves, 
construct hedges, rear orchards and plant for posterity, requires a 
breadth of mind that is the highest statesmanship. And yet, I would 
say to all such, "Perseverance!" 

" The columns of our stately fortunes 
Are sculptured with the chisel, not the axe." 

Even the gigantic tides of the St. Lawrence have their ebb, and mis- 
fortunes at last grow weary of submerging their victims and draw sullenly 
off. And then how sweet the home, snatched like a brand from the 
burning, won from innumerable battlings and sheltered amid arboreal 
beauty that shall ever increase as the days roll on. There can be no 
true home where there are no trees. And so I conclude with that, one 
word for the great army of tree-planters — "Perseverance." 

MR. HODGES TAKES THE FLOOR. 

After the delivery of Mr. Donnelly's address, the secretary was called 
upon for a report, and he gave details as to the progress of tree-planting 
during the past year. He thought twenty or twenty-five millions of 
trees had been planted within the last year or two. Amendments to the 
national timber-culture law, so as to bring its advantages within reach 
of the poor man, had been secured, and the results have been seen in 
the increased demand for tree-claims upon the government domain. The 
amount of tree-planting under the stimulus of the bargains offered by 
the association, was not as great in 1876 as 1877. The premiums awarded 
last year, only amounted to about $150 out of the $1,800 appropriated, 
a large number of applicants for premiums having been refused, be- 
cause the trees were planted too far apart. In response to general 
inquiry, Mr. Hodges said he was engaged in the preparation of a manual, 
or pamphlet, on tree-culture, embodying information which was needed 
by tree-planters, which he would have ready for the press in the course 
of a couple of months. In response to an inquiry, Mr. Hodges said the 
interest in tree-planting was increasing among the people throughout the 
treeless regions of the State. He thought the systems of premitims 
might be improved by adopting the Massachusetts plan of offering large 
premiums for the largest growers. The demand for forest-trees was so 
great, that it was time to take steps to increase the supply, the natural 
growth along the lakes and river bottoms being nearly exhausted. 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 

The following officers were then continued in office, by the passage of 
a resolution to that effect, offered by Gen. Geo. L. Becker : 

President — Ignatius Donnelly. 

Vice Presidents — 1st, A. A. Soule ; 2d, J. N. Bruler ; 3d, J. H. Stevens. 

Secretary — Leonard B. Hodges. 

Treasurer — Pennock Pusey. 

Executive Committee — C. Y. Lacy, B. Thompson, Herman Trott, Gen, 
J. W. Bishop, W. R. Marshall. 

The committee on award of premiums was continued, and the execu- 
tive committee were instructed to act as a committee on legislation, the 
necessity of whicli was commented upon, after which, the thanks of the 



FOREST T?REE planters' MANUAL. 127 

association were tendered to Mr. Donnelly, for his interesting address, 
and an adjournment followed. 



TREE CULTURE. 



Another Interesting Meeting of the Minnesota State Forestry Association— Address of 
Prof. C. Y. Lacy, of the State University — Memorial to Congress for an Amend- 
ment to the Tree Culture Act, and Other Proceedings. 



An adjourned meeting of the State Forestry Association was held at the capitol 
last evening, with a good attendance of persons interested in the scheme for cov- 
ering our prairies with forest trees. Lieutenant Governor Wakefield presided, 
and Mr. L. B. Hodges acted as secretary. Prof. Lacy, of the State University, 
then read the following paper : 

Address of Prof. Lacy. 

A little more than a year ago a meeting was held in this hall, for the purpose of 
organizing a Forestry Association. On the following evening another meeting was 
held, a constitution adopted and officers elected in accordance with it. Soon the 
Association numbered more than one hundred members. Before the adjourn- 
ment of the Legislature, the Association was entrusted with |2,500 to be awarded 
in premiums for tree planting. The executive committee of the Association met 
and constructed a list of premiums to be competed for. This premium hst was 
printed and distributed throughout the State at the expense of the Association. 
The premiums have been competed for and many of them awarded. 

Why this conceded, extended and continued action towards one end by men 
engaged in the widely different pursuits of transportation, law, medicine, agricul- 
ture, legislation and administration ? Was it to gratify the whims of a few half- 
crazy enthusiasts? Was it because it was easier to comply with the wishes of 
such in cases of doubtful utility than to resist their arguments and entreaties ? 
No. The Association includes such men as Geo. L. Becker, E. F. Drake, Herman 
Trott, Wm. W. Folwell, L. B. Hodges, J. W. McClung, H. H. Sibley and J. S. Pills- 
bury — men who have not been suspected of insanity in other affairs, men who 
have not time to treat individual cases outside of the insane asylum, men who 
have the sagacity to read the true nature of facts correctly, and the force of char- 
acter to say no when their judgment demands it. The Minnesota State Forestry 
Association was organized to meet and deal with the stern realities of facts. It 
was organized to meet the fact that over more than one-third the great State of 
Minnesota the winds rush with a howling fang and with a bitter cold that neither 
beast nor fruit tree can resist or withstand, and for miles not a single forest tree 
rears its head in protest. It was organized to meet the fact that in a climate 
which affords six months of winter, much of it fearfully severe, there are thou- 
sands of farms on which there does not grow one particle of fuel, and on which it 
cannot be obtained without the expenditure of both money and labor by a peo- 
ple often destitute of means. It was organized to meet the fact that for miles 
and miles there is not a single landmark to guide the benumbed and benighted 
traveler. It was organized to meet the fact that to induce human beings to make 
their homes on such farms, is downright inhumanity. It was organized to meet 
the fact that people cannot and will not submit to these conditions, but when 
undeceived will abandon their new homes and seek elsewhere. This Association 
was organized to deal with the fact that forests break the force and fury of 
winds, yield fuel and material for fencing and building, and furnish land marks 
for the traveler. It was organized to deal with the fact that forests can be grown. 
Gentlemen, these are not mere figures of rhetoric. They are solemn statements 
of facts which the most thorough investigation will only confirm. The force of 
the wind on our western prairies cannot be conceived of by you who have always 
lived within the area of forests. They are simply terrible to endure and appalling 
to contemplate. They carry death alike to the unprotected beast and the more 
tender forms of arboreal life. Fuel must not only be purchased at a fair price, but 
must be transported by rail, and often in addition it must be hauled a distance 
which requires a journey of one or even two days. When unexpectedly over- 



128 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL, 

taken on these broad prairies, by darkness or blinding snow, the traveler has no 
guide and is Wable to be overcome by cold and discouragement when within a 
mile of his own home. It is cruel and inhuman to place human beings in the 
midst of such conditions. And it is not uncommon for our frontier settlers to 
abandon their inhospitable homes and to follow the flowing waters of the Missis- 
sippi to more genial climates. To show that belts and blocks of forests on 
every quarter section would completely change all these conditions, needs no 
argument. That forests can be grown, the millions of trees that have been 
planted in this State, and in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, and are now growing, 
show conclusively. 

Thus far I have indulged in no speculation, no theory, no fancy. What I have 
claimed for forests no man of good judgment will attempt to question or contra- 
dict. But those who have given the subject most attention are firmly convinced 
that forests will do more than arrest the wind, modify the cold, produce fuel, yield 
lumber and fencing material, guide the traveler, invite the emigrant and retain 
the pioneer settler. I am convinced that forests will modify climate in other 
respects than its temperature. They will affect the rainfall. The experience of 
Egypt and of one of the West Indies Islands indicates this, if it does not prove it. 
In the former case rain fell after several million trees were planted in a district 
where it was never known to fall before. In the latter instance where the forests 
were destroyed the rains ceased to fall and streams dried up. The island was 
allowed to grow up to forest and the rainfall returned. Again the island was 
denuded, with the same result as before. 

Forests will preserve our springs and streams. They prevent the rain from 
flowing off" from the surface as fast as it falls, thus producing destructive freshets, 
and cause it to sink gradually in the soil, thence to feed constantly flowing springs 
or the waste of evaporation. 

Forestswill distribute the fall of rain more equally throughout the year. It is 
believed in the Eastern States that droughts are more protracted and severe than 
in former years when forests were more extensive. 

Forests will make the atmosphere more moist, more humid. With a brisk wind 
blowing, the air is blown away as fast as it becomes moist by contact with the 
earth. When the wind is arrested by forests, the moist air remains. 

Through their influence on temperature, winds and moisture, forests will help to 
solve the problem of successful fruit culture. The forest tree must precede the 
fruit tree. Plant the former and the latter will follow with comparative ease. 

May not fruits prove the ultimate solution of our most perplexing problem, the 
grasshoppers ? Insects are the chief food of many birds, and birds are doubtless the 
instruments of Providence for keeping the insect world within proper limits. For- 
ests harbor and protect myriads of birds that flnd no suitable home upon the open 
prairie. The great difference in the kind and abundance of feathered life on com- 
ing into the vicinity of a grove is very marked. At first thought it would seem to 
need birds in greater numbers than can possibly be obtained, to make any head- 
way. But their cajjacity must not be undervalued. Each small bird can consume 
the young grasshoppers almost by hundreds daily, and the eggs by tens of hun- 
dreds, and living upon them year after year, the birds would much hasten the 
decline and exhaustion of each migration. Besides, it is very probable that for- 
ests may impede the migrations of the grasshopper. I do not consider it at all 
unlikely that if Dakota and Nebraska had been forest instead of prairie region, 
the grasshoppers would never have reached Minnesota and Iowa. 

But the pressing need of forests in Minnesota is to break the force of the wind, 
modify the temperature, and furnish fuel and lumber, and landmarks. For these 
purposes we wwsi have forests. These wants they can supply without a shadow 
of doubt or question. We must groiv these forests where they do not already 
exist, and in our State they mtist be grown over a large area. 

Different authorities differ in their estimates of the proper proportion between 
forest and cultivated areas. The estimates run from 20 to 33 per cent., varying 
somewhat according to the distance of the country from the ocean, or other large 
bodies of water. Taking distance as a basis, the higher estimate would be none 
too high for Minnesota, Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa ; but let us take the 
lower estimate and see how Minnesota stands, and what she requires. Taken as 
a whole, and compared with some other States she does not appear to be very 
badlj^ off. The census of 1876 showed 20 per cent, of the farm area in wood land 
in Minnesota, while Iowa has but IH, Kansas 11, Nebraska 10 and California 4. Of 
the total area, 17 per cent, is estimated to be in wood land in Minnesota, while in 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 129 

Iowa it is only 14, in Kansas 5J, Nebraska 5, and California 8 per cent. But it is 
not sufficient that there should be within the limits of the State a fair proportion 
of wood land. Every £irm must have its protecting belt and its supply of fuel 
and fencing. And when we come to examine the different parts of the State we 
do not find the results so encouraging. We find the wood land very unequally 
distributed. Some counties are composed almost entirely of it. In others the 
government Survey does not show any, and in several others , he wood land is 
less than 500 acres, often lying in one piece along some stream. In one piece in 
the southwestern part of the State, containing 23 counties and more than ten mil- 
lions of acres, the government survey reported only 80,144 acres of wood land. 

This is thought to be double the true amount of timber at the present tirne, 
but if we allow that it is sufficient to supply the people of those counties with 
fuel for the next five years we need not further take it into account. To put 20 
per cent, of this area in forest will require the planting of two millions of acres. 
As to the distance at which trees should stand authorities differ, but we will take 
such a maximum as shall raise no dispute. We will assume that they should 
stand at the end of ten years one rod ajjart each way or 160 to the acre. They 
should be planted then in rows not more than eight feet apart and four feet in 
the row, or 1,380 on each acre. • After the lapse of four or five years the necessary 
thinning would supply fuel and fencing. This gives us at the least calculation a 
grand total of 2,760 millions of trees that should be planted next summer in order 
to give these twenty -three counties a proper proportion of forest ten years hence. 
If we were to allow for probable failures we should increase these figures by at 
least 25 per cent., and if we were to allow for the requirements of other parts of 
the State, we should increase this result by at least 50 per cent. The numbers 
already given are sufficient, however, to show the magnitude of the work 
before us. 

Humanity requires us to do this work, for to invite the emigrant to our treeless 
prairies is cruel inhumanity. Public policy requires us to do this work, for, with- 
out it the treeless regions will remain uninhabited, or else their inhabitants will 
continually require the bounty of the State. Humanity, public policy and the 
magnitude of the work all demand that we each and every one of us give it om- 
best encoui-agement and our best assistance. 

What encouragement have we ? In the first place we are assured that the 
planting of trees will accomplish what we seek to accomplish — they will protect 
from winds, modify the temperature, yield fuel and lumber. 

In the second place we have good reason to believe that numerous other good 
effects wall follow, that the rainfall will be better destributed, our springs and 
streams preserved, the air rendered more humid, fruit culture facilitated and 
destructive insects checked. 

In the third place we know that trees will grow on our prairies if properly 
planted and protected. It was formerly believed, because nature had not per- 
mitted them to grow, that trees would not grow on our prairies. This the num- 
erous artificial groves scattered all over the States of Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, 
as well as our own experience here at home sufficiently refute. 

In the fourth place we are not pioneers in this business of forestry. Foreign 
governments long ago and verj' generally took measures for the preservation of 
their forests. France, Germany, Russia, Egypt and other countries have planted 
forests by the thousands of acres. There government actually does the work. 
Here government is only asked to encourage what is so manifestly for the advan- 
tage of the people. The people of Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska have led the way, 
and now have groves of trees ten inches in diameter and forty to fifty feet high. 
Minnesota has already began the work and planted so many trees that, were it 
not for the vast necessities, it would seem that enough had beeia done. The 
assessors' returns of last summer show, in the twenty-three counties above 
named, more than thirty-two millions of trees planted and growing. This num- 
ber might be greatly increased, perhaps doubled, without exceeding the truth. 
In either case the number is large, but how small compared with the 2,760 mil- 
lions that need to be growing. The number is large enough to show that side by 
side with the most wonderful torpidity and unbelief, some people are alive and 
'wide awake to the necessities and the possibilities of this great region. The 
number is large enough to show that we have only to keep the ball in motion to 
produce grand results — to show that our encouragement and assistance will not be 
tendered in vain. 
In the fifth place the growth of these trees on our prairie soils is rapid, and 

9 



130 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

even, small, plantations produced material results in a very few years. It used to 
be taught tliat he who 23laiited tret;.? planted for posterity. But the skillful modern 
cultivator plants trees for himself as well as for posterity. Fruit trees yield fruit 
in two or three years from planting. Forest trees rear their heads from 25 to 40 
feet in the course of five to ten years. The few trees planted around a dwelling 
for shade and ornament soon make the winds seem not to blow as they did before 
the trees were planted. Ten acres properly j^lanted to forest trees will in five 
years more than furnish the fuel and fencing necessary to furnish a large farm. 

In the sixth place, Avhile the planting of trees is a long investment compared 
with the sowing of wheat and other like crops, there is no danger of its being a 
losing one. Properly planted on good prairie soil the trees are almost certain to 
grow rapidly. There is no serious danger to be apprehended from insects. The 
demand for wood is in no danger of being cut off or even seriouslj^ diminished. 
Many claim that large profits will accrue, and while I do not doubt the fairness 
of their statements, I am content to claim that there can be no loss. 

In the seventh place we know that to plant a few trees is not so vast an under- 
taking as is generally supposed. The experience of the past year bears directly 
upon this point. We have the statements supported by aflSdavits of several men 
who planted on last Ai'bor Day more than 2,500 rooted trees, and of two at least 
who planted 5,000 or over. We have the statements similarily verified of more 
than a dozen men who planted last Arbor Day upwards of 7,000 cuttings, four of 
whom planted more than 10,000 each, and one of whom planted 15,-1:11 cuttings, of 
which more than 13,000 were living trees in October. We have the varied state 
rnent of a Ijoj' only 14 years old who planted on Arbor Day 7,500 cuttings. 

But what, it may be asked, have we to do with this matter V We don't live in 
the treeless regions. We don't sutfer from violent winds, bitter cold or trackless 
wastes. We can get plenty of fuel and of lumber at reasonable prices. Why 
should we trouble ourselves to consider this matter ? I answer, that we are a part 
of this great commonwealth. So are these treeless regions and their inhabitants. 
Our hapi3iness, our reputation, and our continued prosperity do not depend alone 
upy/i our little home circle, but they. depend upon the condition and prosperity 
of the entire State. We cannot be happy while our fellow citizens are enduring 
the pangs of cold and hunger. We cannot enjoy a good reputation while any 
part of our State bears a stigma. We cannot continue prosperous when the tide 
of productive labor if turned toward more genial climates or toward those States 
which show more concern for the happiness and welfare of their people. Thus 
it is our duty as well as our privilege to encourage this thing by showing the 
faith that is in us, to assist it by imparting information to those who seek it and 
will use it ; to encourage and assist bj- such other means as may lie within our 
l>ower. Many of you are legislators. It is your duty to keep a watchful guard 
over the interests of your own district, but still more your duty to studj'' carefully 
the interest of the entire State. It is for your judgment to determine how much 
you shall encourage this great interest of tree planting by official act. Monarchial 
governments actuall}^ perform work of this kind. It is the duty of republican 
governments to encourage the people to do it. Many States have already taken 
measures to this end. In Massachusetts, with but two counties having less than 
15 per cent, of woodland, a premium of $1,000 has been paid for the best grove of 
forest trees ten years old. In New York, with but three counties having less than 
12 per cent, of woodland, bounties are paid to encourage this object. Missouri, 
Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and CaUfornia, are also encouraging tree planting, by the 
payment of i>remiums. The Legislature of Minnesota at its last session appro- 
priated $2,500 for tlie encouragenient of tree planting, and does not the planting 
of ten millions of trees last season justify the act? It is the policy of good gov- 
ernment everywhere to do or to encourage that which is for the good of its people. 
The people and tlie State of Minnesota can do nothing that will be fraught with 
greater or more lasting good than the planting of trees. In the prairie counties 
it is the prelude to increased production and to successful fruit culture. It is the 
])relude oi- accompaniment to successful settlement. Nor will all the advantages of 
tree i)lauting bi' ccjufined to the prairie counties. But few agrii-ultural counties 
in the State have over twenty per (tent, of woodland. It is almost certain that 
the productive (capacity would be greatly increased by raising the proportion to' 
20 or 25 per vvni. Dr. John A. Warder, of Ohio, President of the American For- 
estry Association, advises the farmers of that State to plant 25 per cent, of their 
iarms in forest, believing that the remainder will jirodnce more than if the entire 
area were tiiitivated. .V nurservman of New .Terser savs that within the shelter 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. iol 

of evergreen belts that had been allowed to grow up to a height of 25 to 30 feet iu 
his nursery, farm crops and crops of nursery trees averaged 50 per cent, better 
than when not so protected. Other examples of the same kind might be named, 
showing that while the prairie counties need tree-planting the most, they are not 
the only ones to profit from it. The fact is that the natural forests are vanish- 
ing so fast under the increasing demands of a fast-increasing population, that the 
whole nation must sooner or later turn its attention to tree planting. 

But the planting of trees is not the only measure by which the treeless region 
is to be redeemed. Stop the prairie fires and groves of trees of greater or less 
extent will spring up and grow of themselves. Probably fire has done more than 
any other agent to preserve the prairie, and when fire and cattle are restrained 
trees are not long in' making their appearance. Require the owners of stock to 
take care of it, and you relieve these natural groves from another enemy. You 
relieve our present forests from a great drain made upon them for fencing mater- 
ial, and you facilitate the act of planting because you permit the settler to do it 
at once instead of incurring first the labor and expense of fencing his tract. 

Other Proceedings. 

The Secretary read a communication from the Lac qui Parle Agricultural society 
asking for a change in the Congressional tree culture act so that ten acres of trees 
instead of 40 acres shall be necessary to secure claims of government land, and 
requesting the co-operation of the State Forestry Association to secure the 
amendment required. Xumerous good reasons are given for the proposed 
improvement. 

Mr. Hodges, in a few remarks commended the soundness of the theory of plant- 
ing forestry trees closer together than is required by the Congressional law, and 
gave his own experience on the subject of tree planting. He claimed that more 
good results will follow by planting trees four feet apart, than by placing them 
twelve feet apart, as is now required by law. 

Gen. Bishop took a similar view, showing that a great deal of fraud was perpe- 
trated under the present law, and that it did not work well. He endorsed the 
ten ascre plan, and said there was as little sense in planting corn twelve feet apart 
as to plant trees at the same distance. The General furnished a good deal of 
valuable information on the subject, and his remarks were listened to with great 
interest. 

The association approved a Congressional memorial to Congress to this effect, 
and Mr. Donnelly was requested to present the matter to the Legislature. 

Gov. Ramsey suggested that in view of the lateness of the season, that our 
members of Congress should be communicated with at once. 

On motion of Governor Marshall the Secretary of the Association was instructed 
to forward the resolution to Congress. 

Colonel Crooks thought that the Legislature would promptly act on the 
premises. 

A report of the committee to whom the matter was referred recommended that 
the Legislature should appropriate |300 for the services of the Secretary for the 
year 1877. As the Secretary worked last year for nothing, Mr. McClung moved 
that the Legislature be requested to allow the same salary for last, in view of the 
fact that over ten millions of trees had been planted under the supervision of the 
Secretaiy, while a considerable balance of last year's appropriation remains 
unexpended. 

On Motion of Hon. H. M. Rice, General Bishop and the Secretary were 
instructed to prepare the memorial to Congress in such a way as to make it apply 
as far as practicable to those who have already commenced tree planting as well 
as to those who may commence in the future. 

An appropriation of |2,000 is asked of the Legislature for the premiums and 
other expenses of the association for the year 1877. 



132 FOREST TREE PLANTERS* MANUAL. 

FOREST CULTURE IN MINNESOTA. 



Extracts from an Essay Read at the Annual Meeting of the State Agricultaral Society at 

the State University, in Minneapolis, February 5th, 1879 — By Leonard B. 

Hodges, Superintendent of Tree Planting, First Division St. Panl & 

Pacific Railroad Company. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

A large volume concisely written would fail to do justice to the sub- 
ject, and I crave your charitable consideration while presenting a few of 
the most prominent points suggested in its practical bearings upon our 
material interests. 

While the northern and northeastern portions of Minnesota are 
emphatically timbered regions, the southwest and western portions of 
our State are very destitute of timber. While Minnesota as a State is 
more abundantly supplied with timber than either Illinois, Iowa, Kan- 
sas, Nebraska, Nevada, Dakota or California, yet the subborn fact exists 
that nearly or quite one-third of the finest agricultural lands of Minne- 
sota are absolutely too destitute of timber to admit of settlement and 
cultivation. Hence the propriety of the State Agricultural Society tak- 
ing hold of this subject, and rendering such aid as the magnitude of 
this interest demands. In the proper presentation of this subject, it 
becomes neccessary to introduce facts bearing upon timber consumption 
as well as timber culture, that the general knowledge of our present 
necessities may enable us to make suitable provision against approach- 
ing want. Many of us have been permitted to witness within the last 
twenty-five years an increase of population from about 5,000 in 1850 to 
about 600,000 in 1875. 

Estimating five persons to a family, Minnesota now contains 120,000 
families. To provide one family a comfortable degree of warmth 
throughout the year, requires twelve cords of wood. This one item of 
fuel for the household demands an annual consumption of 1,440,000 
cords of wood. 

We have in Minnesota, in round numbers, say two thousand miles of 
railroad, with 230 or 240 locomotive engines, consuming annually, with 
the necessary supply to railroad stations, not less than two hundred and 
twenty thousand cords. The 5,000,000 ties entering into the original 
construction of our 2,000 miles of railroad, used up not less than 240,- 
000 cords, and as they have to be renewed as often as once in seven 
years, here is another annual consumption of nearly 35,000 cords. When 
we also take into account the bridge timbers used in the construction 
and maintenance of our railroads, and the timber required for the con- 
struction and maintenance of the necessary station houses, warehouses, 
fences, &c., we can add another annual item of not less than 15,000 
cords. When we take into account the consumption of timber in build- 
ing our cities, towns and villages, and the amount consumed in fencing 
the sixty thousand farms in Minnesota, we are just beginning to get 
fairly into the merits of the question. 

Let us recapitulate a moment. 

Cords. 

For household fuel -. 1,144,000 

For locomotives, &c 220,000 

For repairing railroads, &c 50,000 

Total. 1,710,000 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 133 

Estimating our timbered lands to yield an average of 23 cords per 
acre, which I consider a liberal estimate, we find that about 75,000 acres 
of the forests of Minnesota are being stripped annually for our house- 
holds and railroads alone. For fencing our farms, bridges for public 
highways, manufacturing purposes, the operation of our lumbermen who 
furnish the material for building our towns and cities, not only for Min- 
nesota, but to a large extent for Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota and Manitoba, 
no one will quarrel with me, if at a rough guess I place this consump- 
tion equivalent to the annual stripping of another 75,000 acres. Hence 
I have some reason from the above approximations, to infer that the 
annual consumption of timber of this State is equivalent to the destruct- 
ion of one hundred and fifty thousand acres of the primeval forests of 
Minnesota every year. The geographies in use in the public schools of 
Minnesota say its area is 83,531 square miles. Our Commissioner of 
Statistics estimates our forests to cover one-sixth of our area. From 
these data you can figure how long our wood-pile will hold out with our 
present population. 

Twenty-five years hence, with a million or more of population, our 
pineries exhausted, the Big Woods pretty well thinned out, the Missis- 
sippi drying up, St. Paul and Minneapolis three or four hundred miles 
above the head of steamboat navigation, mercury 40° below zero, and the 
wind blowing a hurricane, is not the idle revery of a dreamer. 

Destroying one hundred and fifty thousand acres of forest annually, 
and planting to supply this loss — how much? Can this society answer? 
Can the State of Minnesota ? If you can, the answers are in order now, 
for even now the grasshoppers has become a burden, and the mourners 
go about the street ; the frontier settlers of our treeless regions are twist- 
ing up prairie grass for fuel, burning prairie sods, and grubbing out old 
stumps and roots, doing their best to extract sufficient warmth there- 
from to prevent their wives and little ones from freezing, alas ! not always 
succeeding. The honest farmers with loads of our great staple on their 
way to the nearest market, overtaken with the pitiless storm and frozen 
to death, without a tree or bush or shrub in sight; our public highways 
and railroads blockaded, travel suspended, the mails stopped, commer- 
cial and other great interests embarrassed. 

Though the kindness of our worthy Secretary, I am enabled from 
official date in the United States Surveyor General's office, to lay before 
you some artistics which are both "interesting and instructive." 

Estimates of timber in the following counties, from plats on file in the 
United States Surveyor General's office, St. Paul, Minn.: 

Counties. Acres timber. 

Rock 700 

Nobles 40 

Martin 2,200 

Faribault 20,300 

Pipe Stone 00 

Murray 850 

Cottonwood 50 

Watonwan 2,800 

Brown 22,400 

*Lyon 2,800 

Red Wood 2,000 

*This probably includes both Lyon and Lincoln counties. 



134 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

Yellow Medicine 1,500 

Renville 4,000 

Lac qui Parle : 2,200 

Chippewa 3,520 

Big Stone • 495 

Swift 1,470 

Traverse 00 

Pope 13,500 

Stevens 686 

Grant 373 

Wilkin 260 

Olmsted 170,000 

I have placed Olmsted county in this list for the purpose of illustra- 
tion and comparison. This county, named for my highly esteemed and 
lamented friend, Hon. David Olmsted, one of the founders of Minnesota, 
was settled in 1854, and organized in 1855. Its total area is about 422,- 
400 acres. Its timber area, at the time of its government survey in 1853 
and 1854, was estimated by the government surveyors at 170,000 acres, 
being about 64.4 acres of timber to each quarter section. Like the State, 
this county is abundantly supplied with timber, but it was not conveni- 
ently distributed, the northwestern and southeastern portions being 
heavily timbered on the Zumbro and Root rivers, with all the deciduous 
varieties, while the river bluflFs were in many places heavily timbered 
with white pine and red cedar. 

The intervening area was mainly prairie, with occasionally a small 
grove, and patches of hazel, wild plum, cherry, crab-apple, jack oak and 
aspen brush. 

The old Dubuque and St. Paul stage road scarcely encountered a stick 
of timber from intersection of the northern boundary of the county until 
it struck the Root river timber near its southern boundary, with scarcely 
any timber in sight. It was a common remark of the stage passengers 
that this portion of Minnesota would never be settled, and in answer to 
this remark made in the winter of 1854 and 1855 by a well-known, 
wealthy and influential gentleman, then and yet a resident of St. Paul, 
that we would have 10,000 people in there within ten years. I got the 
sneering reply that we would have 10,000 fools if we did. To-day 
20,000 people occupy that region ; the largest, most expensive and mag- 
nificent school house in Minnesota — if not in the United States — stands 
within a few hundred yards of what was then the most desolate and 
lonely point on this portion of the old stage road, and is occupied by 
more than one thousand children who reside within rifle shot of this 
school house , and the fools are not all dead yet ! Olmsted county has 
probably the largest proportion of cultivated land to its area of any 
county in Minnesota, and yet a large proportion of her heaviest farmers 
haul every stick of their fire-wood, fencing and building material, from 
ten to twenty miles. With good roads they make a trip a day. On the 
eastern borders of the treeless region it takes the farmer two days to get 
load of fire-wood ; while a hundred miles from any timber to amount to 
anything, the farmer can purchase fire-wood, seasoned hard maple, of 
some of the railroad companies, cheaper than the same quality of wood 
could be had in St. Paul, Rochester or Stillwater. 

Wilkin county has a larger area than Olmsted county, and with a 
reasonable supply of timber, would in a few years be as densely settled 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 135 

and contribute as much revenue to the State. Yet should the present 
population of Olmsted county be suddenly transferred to Wilkin county, 
they would burn up every stick of fire-wood in that county in less than 
thirty days of such weather as Minnesota has experienced within the 
last month. If they were transferred to Nobles county, they would con- 
sume the timber of that county in less than a week; or, if transferred 
to Pipe Stone or Traverse, they would consume the last stick of wood in 
those counties in cooking their first meal of victuals. 

Olmsted county, with an annual production of about two million 
bushels of wheat, and other agricultural products in proportion, has not 
yet reached more than half way to her maximum product, but a trifle 
over one-third of her total area having yet been placed under cultiva- 
tion. Twenty-five years hence, wdien fully developed, she will sup^Dort a 
population of 40,000. 

Olmsted county pays into the State treasury over $20,000 per annum. 
West of Olmsted county, on the same line of railway, out in the treeless 
region, we strike Lyon county. Just as good soil, capable of producing 
as much wealth, yet, with less than half an acre of timber to a quarter 
section of prairie, has nearly reached her limit of population and 
wealth. Lyon county contributed in 1873, $628.91 as her quota to the 
State treasury. The same instructive comparison could be made with 
23 other treeless counties. 

It would take all the timber in Lyon count)' to run Olmsted county 
eighteen months. 

Does the State desire to see those treeless counties able to contribute 
$20 to the State treasury where they now contribute one? 

The State extracts about $20,000 revenue per annum in State taxes 
from those most destitute counties of the treeless region ; returns it all 
as soon as collected to keep the inhabitants from freezing to death every 
winter, besides contributing twice as much in provisions and seed wheat 
to keep them from starving, and yet so far, refuse through their Legisla- 
lature to appropriate a dollar to the only project which will ever redeem 
those treeless counties from virtual pauperism, and place them in,a con- 
dition which Mali enable them to subsist upon the fruit of their own 
labors, and also pay their just quota to the revenues of the State. 

A member of the Legislature should remember that he is not only the 
representative of his own local district, but equalty so of the State at 
large, and while vigilantly guarding and promoting the interests of his 
own immediate locality, should employ the same energy and vigilance 
in promoting such interests as contribute to the general wellfare of the 
State. 

The State has also a direct interest in the improvement and conse- 
(.]^uent developement of this treeless region, for she owns in fee simple not 
less than seven hundred thousand acres of clioice agricultural lands, in a 
region so destitute of timber as to render them practically worthless. 
As Minnesotians we are indignant, and justly condemn the selfish policy 
of non-resident land holders, who, doing nothing themselves to enhance 
their value, yet reap a ]3rofit on such investments, through the toil and 
privations of our hardy pioneers. As a great landed proj)rietor, the State 
owes it to herself to mark out, pursue and develope a system of forest 
tree culture which Avill, in a few years, render those lands valuable, and 
consequently saleable. Every dollar judiciously, intelligently and hon- 
estly expended on such a system would come back to the State treasury 
in a few years with increase "an hundred fold," like the seed we read of 



136 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

"sown on good ground," for it is emphatically good ground to plant 
trees on. 

The ready sale of lands thereby accruing, would in a comparatively 
short time double our school fund, liquidate our State railroad bonds, 
and bridge our streams. The State revenues would indirectly be so 
augmented as to reduce our State tax to less than one mill on a dollar, 
returning to the taxpayers of the timbered districts tenfold for their 
temporary advances. 

Agriculture, pre-eminently the great interest of Minnesota, the founda- 
tion and support of all other interests, would thereby be enabled to so 
spread itself that this treeless region, now dependent on the bounty of 
the State for "seed wheat," would in a short period be enabled not only 
to return it "with usury," but would also be able to add more than a 
hundred millions of bushels of wheat to our exports annually, with a 
proportionate increase of horses and cattle, butter and cheese. 

Every consideration of sound policy, enlightened statesmanship, com- 
mon sense and practical humanity, urges the State to the prompt inaug- 
uration and rapid execution of such a comprehensive system of forest 
tree culture, as will render such results possible. 

That the State partially recognizes the importance of forest-tree culture 
is apparent, when we refer to the legislation already had in this behalf. 
But, it is only a step in the right direction. Such additional legislation 
should at once be had as to render operative the acts already enacted. 
The State should at pnce organize a tree-planting department, and ap- 
propriate such a sum of money for its operations as to enable it to 
accomplish such results as could be reasonably expected under a faith- 
ful, practical, intelligent and honest administration of its affairs. 

This society should awaken to a full sense of its duties in this behalf. 
In the exercise of its appropriate and legitimate functions, the general 
public expect it to lead off in the promotion of agricultural interest. 
Any plan having for its immediate object the promotion of such inter- 
ests, is entitled to its hearty co-operatiou and continued aid, or least, a 

fair trial. 

* •;•!■ -A- * * -:f ■;{• * 

The peculiar weakness of human nature, to be in haste to become 
rich, continually acts as a drawback to th^ sure, but gradual accumula- 
tion of wealth. The young man of enterprise, industry and ambition, 
is generally in too big a hurry, for permanent success. The profits on a 
quarter-section of wheat, with its speedy returns in ready money within 
a year or two from the commencement of his work, is more alluring 
than the slow accumulations through stock-growing and tree-planting, 
and their consequent permanent values. The too common, but mistaken 
idea, that it takes too long to wait to get any good fron^ tree-planting, 
must be corrected. 

Right here, I propose to challenge the pi-esent prevailing sentiments 
and opinions about tree-planting, by a few assertions, which, if false, can 
be readily disproved, and if true, will be of permanent value to this 
State. 

1st. I assert that the farmer, on the bleakest portion of our treeless 
regions, can, with less ready money, than it would cost to buy a break- 
ing plow, surround his stock-yard and buildings with a wind-break 
within five years, that will protect him as effectually as though he was 
in the middle of the Big Woods. 

2nd. That a crop of trees can be grown as surely, and in proportion 
to its value, with far less expense than a crop of corn. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 137 

3rd. That ten acres, properly planted to timber, and properly culti- 
vated, will, in five years supply fuel for a family in great abundance, 
and also, fencing for the farm of 160 acres. 

4th. That the most worthless lands of our treeless regions, can, 
through the intervention of the Tree-Planter, be sold for $100 per acre, 
within twenty years. 

5th. That the nett profits on a quarter-section of prairie, properly 
prepared, planted and cultivated with forest trees, will, within ten years 
exceed the nett profits of ten quarter sections of wheat. 

6th. That a single cottonwood seed, although smaller than " a grain 
of mustard," can, by intelligent cultivation be developed into a cord of 
fire-wood within twenty years. 

7th. That any young man of muscular development and good " horse 
sense," can surely accomplish these results ; providing, always, that he 
is not in too great haste to get rich ; and 

8th. That the genuine white willow, properly handled, will increase 
faster than money at interest at four per cent, per month, and that the 
First Division of the St. Paul & Pacific railroad company is now pre- 
pared to furnish it to settlers on their lines, delivered at any station on 
the prairie free of transportation, at a cost from one to two dollars per 
thousand trees. These may to some sound like bold, reckless, and, 
perhaps, ignorant assertions, but they are hereby made, and I propose 

stand by them, 
to We will now consider a few fact's about the 

Groioth of Forest Trees. 

I bring forward only Minnesota growths as specimens of what has 
already been done. Wc have no occasion to draw from other States for 
facts for the encouragement of forest-culture. From many hundreds of 
similar facts, I select the following as sufficient : 

Cottonwoods, in Olmsted county, seventeen years old, are from 50 to 
60 feet high, and from 60 to 81 inches in circumference. Cottonwood, 
in Dakota county, seventeen years old, are over sixty feet high, from 81 
to 90 inches in circumference, and will yield a cord of fire-wood per 
tree, and are now standing on the farm of A. E. Messenger, Esq. 

Basswood are now standing on timber land cleared by the writer, in 
1857, in the town of Oronoco, Olmsted county, 30 feet high, 25 inches 
in circumference. Ash, on same ground, 13 to 21 inches in circumfer- 
ence, 25 feet high, 10 to 12 years old. Butternut, 15 inches in circum- 
ference, 25 feet high, 14 years old. Pignut hickory, 15 inches in circum- 
ference, 25 feet high, 10 to 14 years old. This is on ground cleared from 
10 to 18 years ago, and left to the care of nature ever since. 

On "grub prairie," in the village of Oronoco, where the grubs did not 
average two feet high, and nothing but oak to be seen twenty years ago, 
now stands a grove from which I select jack-oak trees 20 to 26 inches in 
circumference, and 25 to 30 feet high ; white-oak trees, 21 to 23 inches 
in circumference, and 20 to 30 feet high ; butternut, 27 inches in circum- 
ference, and 25 to 30 feet high. 

All this without any cultivation, no protection frojii cattle, but pretty 
well protected from fire. 

In the door-yard of John K. Kepner, Little Valley, Olmsted county, 
black walnut in bearing, 7 years old, from seed, 3 to 5 inches in diam- 
eter, 18 to 20 feet high ; elm trees, 6 years from seed, 2 to 4 inches in 
diameter ; scarlet maple still larger ; box elder, larger yet, and cotton- 



138 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

woods, twice as large as the box-elder ; honey locust rather slow grower, 
but hardy, only one in fifty having killed during the hard winter of 
1872-3 ; white pine 20 feet high, 6 to 8 inches in diameter, transplanted 
from the forest, seven and eight years ago, when only a few inches high ; 
Balsam fir, 23? feet high, 38 inches in circumference, one foot above the 
ground, 12 yeaars old. the branches covering a circle of more than fifty 
feet." On the farm of Hon. Dwight Rathburn, Fillmore county, black 
ash, seven to eight years old from seed, 18 to 21 inches in circumference, 
18 feet high, with beautifullj'- shaped tops 15 to 18 feet across. In 
door-yard of Gen. Gorman, St. Paul, tameracks transplanted from the 
swamp eighteen years ago, 30 to 35 feet high, and 24 to 34 inches in cir- 
cumference — large enough for railroad ties. Sugar maple, on Dayton 
avenue, St. Paul, 23 to 26 inches in circumference. On the farm of 
Harrison Waldron, of Byron, Olmsted county, white willow, 41 inches 
in circumference one foot above the ground, and 40 feet high, eight years 
from the cutting. Mr. G. N. Waldron, in the same vicinity, has white 
willows of still larger growth. At Winona, bass wood, planted in 1859, 
20 inches in circumference ; hard maple, same age, 16 inches in circum- 
ference; soft maple, planted five or six years later, 28 inches in circum- 
ference ; elm, planted in 1859 or '60, 54 inches in circumference ; cotton- 
wood, planted in same row at same time, 78 inches in circumference. 
These results, gratifying as they are, might have been materially 
ncreased by better cultivation, some of the trees having received no 
cultivation, and many of them but little. 

Besides the destruction of forests in Minnesota caused by the constant 
demand for fuel, fencing and building material, the destruction caused 
by the ravages of fire, and the depredations of horses, cattle and sheep, 
is scarcely less. This loss is almost wholly unnecessary, and as the 
result of sheer negligence our annual losses, without any equivalent gain, 
are immense. I am indebted to the courtesy of Col. Griggs of St. Paul, 
for the following item of fuel consumprion in St. Paul, which can be 
relied upon as a very close approximation, based upon purchases and 
sales of the wood and coal dealers in St. Paul for 1874 : 

Wood 40,000 cords 

Coal 20,000 tons. 

Reducing coal to wood — one ton of coal equivalent to one and a half 
cords of wood — gives 70,000 cords of wood as the actual consumption of 
St. Paul for 1874. As this is nearly all the best quality of wood, chiefly 
sugar maple, to reduce it to the average grade of our forests would swell 
the measurement to about 96,000 thousand cords. Population, say 40,- 
000; number of families, say 8,000, equals twelve cords to each tamily, 
thus verifying my original estimate of twelve cords per annum to an 
average family, of average wood. It may be objected by some that my 
estimates are erroneous, because I do not wholly embrace the amount of 
coal annually consumed in Minnesota. Tliis is a point worth raising. 
If Minnesota is already too destitute of timber to be unable to compete 
with Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania in the matter of supplying 
her own people with cheap fuel, she had better go to growing forests at 
once, stop the sending of money to other States for fuel, and keep it 
among ourselves. In the timber estimates from the Surveyor General's 
office, it is proper to remark that these estimates are not absolutely cor- 
rect, the timber not being meandered, its inter-section by township and 
section lines and bearings noted. Although a close approximation, 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 139 

my personal observation of the timber in many of those counties causes 
me to think those estimates were originally high enough, while the con- 
sumption and destruction since occurring by the settlers, by fire and cat- 
tle, will far exceed the growth. 

I might enlarge this paper, perhaps profitably, with a chapter on the 
untimely effects sure to ensue from the destruction of our forests — the 
drying up of our creeks and navigable streams, shortening of crops by 
drought, destruction of property by floods, diminished and uncertain 
rainfalls, &c. I might also show some of the blessings resulting from 
extensive forest culture, in the favorable climatic changes sure to follow 
better sanitary conditions, and the virtual promotion of all the material 
interests of the State; but I am admonished to be "short and concise," 
and will close by saying there is a rich mine of undeveloped wealth in 
our treeless regions, which can only be developed by a comprehensive 
broad gauge system of tree planting. 

THE TEACHINGS OF MANY YEAKS' EXPERIENCE IN FOREST 

CULTURE. 

Agricultural £JditO'r of thtf Fioiteer-Press: 

Many years' experience in timber culture on the farm in central Iowa, has 
taught me that one hundred cords of wood can be successfully raised on one acre 
of land, in ten years' time, by planting in belts on the border of the farm. 

That the white willow (Salix alba) is the best border tree for the Northwest. 
That the yellow cottonwood of the Missouri valley, when planted where it has 
room to idevelope itself, has no ec^ual save the yellow poplar, (tulip tree) of the 
Middle States. That the cataljja is making a good growth as far north as the 
42d parallel north latitude, is a fine ornamental tree, and is said to be valuable 
timber for posts and railroad ties. That the seeds of the black waliuit should be 
planted in the fall as soon as gathered, either in the seed-bed or where it should 
stand in the grove ; should be taken from the seed-bed at one year old and trans- 
planted in the grove of young trees that will not overshadow it while young, and 
when it is twenty-five or thirty feet high the nurse trees should be taken out, that 
it may develope into worth. That the white walnut is easily transplanted, and is 
worthy of the attention of the tree-planting public. That the white or green ash is 
a tree of great value for farm purposes, easily transplanted, and should be found 
growing on every farm. That the sugar tree, sometimes called " hard maple," is 
one of our finest ornamental trees, stands transplanting well, and is not easily 
broken bj' the storm, has few equals on the street or lawn. Tliat the soft maple 
is a valuable forest tree, and should be set in a thick grove, transplants well at one 
and two years old, is one of the poorest for the border, as the storms break it 
worse than almost any other tree. That the box-elder is one of the valuable 
hardy trees for the border, street or lawn ; can be cut in anj' shape, and will stand 
more abuse than almost any other tree ; makes a valuable shade for the pasture. 
That the honey locust is a valuable timber tree, of thrifty growth, and transplants 
well, and were it not for its thorn-producing propensity, would have few equals ; 
the thorny ones, if managed right, make a good hedge for those who like it. That 
the buckthorn and berberry are hedge plants of value in the North w^est ; though 
slow of growth will make impenetrable barriers with proper care in time. That 
the osage orange is a failure in 42 north latitude. 

That tree culture in Linn and Benton counties, Iowa, has proved the best 
investment made hy those who have done the most of it, as acknowledged to me 
bv themselves. 

W, L. BROCKMAN. 

Carroll City, Iowa, January 15th, 1879. 



140 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

FOREST CULTURE IN MINNESOTA. 



A Paper Read before the State Forestry Association, at the Capitol, Saturday Evening, 
Feb. 12th, 1876, by Leonard B. Hodges. 



Mr. President: 

In endeavoring to comply with the invitation of the State Forestry- 
Association to address them this evening on the important subject of 
forest culture in Minnesota, I am painfully conscious of my inability to 
do justice to a subject, the proper discussion of which might well occupy 
the best minds of the State. I crave your indulgence and that of the 
company present, while endeavoring to lay before you some of the 
reasons which I trust may be of service in awakening a new interest in 
a matter of vital importance to Minnesota ; and in doing so, may per- 
haps bring forward facts and items not wholly new; yet of such practi- 
cal importance as to bear repeating. With line upon line, precept upon 
precept, here a little and there a little, all important truths are inculca- 
ted. 

Until within a few years, the emigrant to Minnesota has been able to 
obtain good farming land, with plenty of good timber adjoining, or within 
convenient distance. 

Thousands of the earlier settlers were fortunate in obtaining prairie, 
timber and running water on the same farm. Others coming in later, 
have obtained choice prairie farms with good timber within three to five 
miles. And as emigration has gradually over-run the most desirable 
agricultural portions of the State, the intervening distance between large 
bodies of choice wheat land and groves of timber, has gradually widened 
out, until now we find the great body of our most productive agricultural 
lands so remote from timber as to seriously interfere with their settle- 
ment. 

The emigrant who now comes to Minnesota to obtain a tarm under 
the provisions of the Homestead or Pre-emption Law, is compelled to 
make his choice either in the heavy timber or in the treeless region. The 
question for him to determine at the outset is this: Shall I settle in the 
heavy timber and spend a life-time in hewing out a farm, or shall I go 
out into the treeless region and reverse the process — plant, cultivate and 
prune, instead of cut and slash, burn and grub. Hence the importance 
and necessity of a correct solution of a question which is of interest 
not only to the poor emigrant and the well-to-do farmer hunting a new 
location where he can obtain a thousand or five thousand acres of cheap 
rich land where he can settle his half dozen sturdy lads 'around him, 
but also to the entire State, and more especially to the towns and cities 
of the State, whose continued growth and prosperity can only be secured 
and permanently maintained by the gradual and complete agricultural 
development of what is known as the treeless region of Minnesota. This 
region stretching away from the "Big Woods" on the east, to Dakota on 
the west — from Iowa on the south, to Manitoba on the north — covering 
an area of more than twenty thousand square miles — almost an empire 
in extent — really the fairest portion of Minnesota — capable, when fully 
developed, of adding a hundred millions of bushels of Avlieat to the 
exports of the State, with a corresponding amount of cattle and dairy 
products — crossed and re-crossed by seven difi'erent lines of land-grant 
railroads, rendering it easily accessible from all quarters ; presenting to 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 141 

the emigrant the largest, most fertile and most accessible body of govern- 
ment land now remaining in the United States, needs only the interven- 
tion of the tree-planter to transform this desert solitude into what nature 
intended it for, one of the granaries of the world. On this broad expanse 
of fertile prairies, with natural meadows, lovely lakes and running 
streams, forty thousand families can find free homesteads and a healthy 
climate within hearing of the whistle of the locomotive. 

The redemption of this treeless solitude ; the conversion- of its desert 
wastes into fruitful fields ; is an object of great importance, not alone to 
this particular region, but also to the entire State. The pioneer work to 
be done in efiecting this change is the patient, persistent, untiring labor 
of the tree planter. 

The Ti^eeless Region. 

To illustrate the necessity and magnitude of the Avork, let us take a 
glance of what is known as the "Treeless Region." 

Fortunately for Minnesota, she embraces within her borders but a 
fraction of that great waste which covers the greater portion of the inter- 
ior section of the North American Continent. 

The map which I have placed in view, compiled by Prof. Brewer of 
Yale College, shows at a glance the treeless region. Our own portion is 
so small compared with the whole, as at first glance to seem too insignifi- 
cant to make such ado over. Yet we must take into account, small as it 
appears on the map, it is capable when fully developed of sustaining 
five times the present population of the State. 

There is, in addition to the increased productive area to be developed 
by an extended system of forest culture, the climatic changes and conse- 
quent benefits resulting therefrom, to be considered. 

The great objection, and really the only one that is urged against 
Minnesota by rival interests, is the climate. We point with pride to the 
progress of our State during the past twenty-five years. Its transforma- 
tion from a howling wilderness to a sovereign state, with its common 
schools, its colleges, its churches, its commercial and manufacturing 
interests, its 2000 miles of railroad, and its annual crop of 30,000,000 
bushels of wheat. 

We challenge the world to produce a finer brand of flour than is made 
every day in Minnesota from Minnesota wheat ; we challenge the world 
to produce an entire community of 600,000 people as well fed, as well 
clothed, as well educated, as well supplied with the comforts of life, and 
as well paid for their labor, as are the 600,000 inhabitants of Minnesota. 
And thos of us who have been here from the early days, whose labors, 
privation^s, foresight and energy have contributed so largely to such mag- 
nificent results, — while we may individually regret lost opportunities, 
each of us, can with more than Roman exultation exclaim, " I am a 
Minnesotian." 

Yet knowing beyond the possibility of any mistake, that we can offer* 
to thej emigant better inducements than any other equal area on God's 
footstool ; we are failing to get our share. The treeless, arid plains of 
Kansas, Nebraska and Texas, with their protracted droughts, their grass- 
hopper experiences and their malarial fevers, are more than successfully 
competing with Minnesota for emigration. 

And why? Simply on account of the grossly exaggerated stories of 
our winters. That in Minnesota men freeze to death going after _ a load 
of wood; farmers freeze to death while hauling their wheat to their near- 



142 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL, 

est market ; and that there are weeks at a time when it is impossible for 
a man to go from his house to his barn without one end of a rope fastened 
around him and the other end in the house, in his wife's hands, so she 
can haul him in, hand over hand, before he perishes ; and that even in 
St. Paul the principal occupation of the street commissioners and their 
force in winter is in sweej)ing and shoveling up bushels and wagon loads 
of fragments of frozen ears and noses which encumber the sidewalks and 
pavements. 

The great electrical storm of January 7th, 8th and 9th, 1873, which 
swept over Manitoba, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, 
Illinois and other extensive areas, carrying suffering and death into each 
of those States and Territories, is all located by rival interests in Min- 
nesota. 

The story of that storm and its attendant horrors is more firmly estab- 
lished and more vividly remembered among people seeking new homes 
in the west, than even the Sioux outbreak in 1862, and is more lasting in 
its effects. 

Now, what are we going to do about it? While we laugh at the absur- 
dity of such stories, we realize their disastrous effects. There is no use 
in denying them, for the grain of truth we are willing to admit, carries 
conviction as to the truth of the whole. 

I see no way but " to take the bull by the horns" and" face the music." 
Save the breath now spent in denying these absurdities for hard work. 
Instead of a clothes-line running from the house to the barn, surround 
that house and barn with a live windbreak of willow, cotton wood, larch, 
pine and spruce ; surround your farms with belts of forest timber ; line 
your public highways with rows of elm, sugar maple, butternut, black 
walnut, bass wood and ash; plant plentifully of acorns in the shaded 
places of your windbreaks and hedge rows ; plant the seed of the ash, 
elm, box elder, cottonwood, basswood and hackberry on every frontier 
farm in the State. Take care of them, cultivate them and protect them 
from fires and from cattle ; extend this system over our entire treeless 
region, and in a very few years our winters will be robbed of their terrors, 
bhzzards will be unknown, the grasshoppers will cease to be a burden, 
the devastating hail storms of midsummer will fail to appear, protracted 
droughts and devastating floods will be of rare occurrence. Snow block- 
ades with their attendant embarrassments and loss of time and money 
will be unknown, the average yield of our cereal crops will be increased, 
cattle and horses will do better, the difficulties attendant upon fruit 
growing will vanish, our treeless region will be densely settled, the reven- 
ues of the State quadrupted, individual taxation lightened, and Minne- 
sota triuphantly vindicated. 

Work to be Done. 

In looking over this last paragraph, I see there is a good deal of woi^k 
laid out. This work lias got to be done. As a State, we are in a similar 
predicament to the boy after the wood-chuck. We must have the wood- 
chuck. How to dig him out the quickest and cheapest, is the question 
always in order. We have all got to dig. This Minnesota State Forestry 
Association has got to make the dirt fly. We propose to do a heap of 
digging next Arbor Day, (1st Tuesday of May,) and to plant so many 
trees in Minnesota on that day, that for the next hundred years people 
will talk of that day's work, and point to the results with gratitude and 
pride. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS* MANUAL. 143 

And right here I come to a tender spot : the members of this associa- 
tion expect I'll say something to the legislature in this behalf. Now, I 
have been a member of the legislature myself, and so have most of the 
members of the State Forestry Association. 

We know what it is to be buzzed, button-holed, bored, and bamboozled 
generally. We think we know ourselves better than to fool away our 
time ; besides, we have too much to do. As a society, we are giving the 
State our experience and our services gratis, we work hard and board 
ourselves ; we ask no pay for those services, virtue is its own reward. 
But, we do ask the legislature to appropriate a small sum of money to 
encourage forest-culture in Minnesota. 

How do you propose to use it? 

First, to expend a portion of the appropriation in the publication and 
distribution of a small pamphlet for gratuitous circulation among the 
people ; this pamphlet to be clearly and tersely written, eminently prac- 
tical, embodying the experience of practical men, pointing out the 
proper methods of preparing the ground, how to plant, what to plant, 
how and when to cultivate, cost of planting, how to propagate success- 
fully from seeds and cuttings, in short, to give such information on 
forest-culture, that the work may be done successfully, and that time and 
money be not wasted ; it should also contain the laws of Minnesota; 
relating to forestry, the congressional timber-culture act, the pre-emption 
act, and the hoiuestead act. It would come so near being an emigration 
document, that a few chapters on the resources of Minnesota might be 
profitably appropriately added without much extra cost. Then we pro- 
pose to devote a large portion of the appropriation in premiums, to be 
distributed among the people for the general observance of arbor day. 

The very encouraging results obtained from the very inadequate pre- 
miums offered by The Pioneer Press Company and the First Division of 
St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company, to parties planting the most 
trees or cuttings on arbor day last spring, shows clearly what may be 
accomplished by a premium list commensurate with the magnitude of 
the work. 

A Million of Trees Planted. 

From the best information I can obtain, I feel safe in saying, that more 
than a million of forest-trees were planted last arbor day, in Minnesota, 
under the stimulus of less than $400, and none of that in money. 

Those premiums were so offered, that but one in each county could, 
by any possibility win. They were offered so late, that not half of the 
j)eople heard of the offer until the day was past. 

This association propose to arrange a premium list so comprehensive 
and so wide in its range, and to throw it before the public so early, that 
every man, woman, boy or girl, in Minnesota can have a fair chance of 
winning a prize. We do not rely solely on the legislature for help to 
carry on this work : we are trying to help ourselves. 

A month has not yet passed since the organization of the Minnesota 
Forestry Association ; from initiation fees, and from donations, we can 
already offer $700 for premiums next arbor day. 

We can surely raise this amount to $1000 within a week. 

The Practicability of the Work. 

This is a question to be considered in this connection. Practical men 
who have made forest-culture a study and a business, have no doubts 
on this subject. 



144 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

Impracticable men, educated fools, and those whose skulls are so thick 
as to require a pile-driver to assist them in getting a new idea, denounce 
it as impracticable. 

I apprehend the great diversity of opinion on this subject, is in part, 
to be accounted for in the wide range of territory the treeless region of 
the North American Continent covers. 

I apprehend, and indeed my own experience has suggested and con- 
firmed the idea, that the difficulty increases in almost exact proportion 
to the distance from large bodies of timber. 

In my own work for three successive years, I have been obliged to 
observe that the expense and difficulty of forest-culture increases in very 
exact proportion to the distance west of the Big Woods. As far west as 
Willmar, no difficulty has yet been experienced. West of that point, 
we very soon observe a perceptible decrease of rain fall. We are grad- 
ually approaching the arid treeless region of Dakota and the plains 
country. 

As we gradually approach this arid region, greater care is found to be 
necessary in preparing the soil. Greater care is necessary in handling 
and planting the young trees and cuttings. More cultivation is necesary. 
Excessive aridity is to be overcome, not by the water-pot, but by the 
cultivator. 

Heavy mulching will be found useful. 

Greater skill, greater care, more and better cultivation, greater expe- 
rience and more hard, horse sense, will be needed the farther you go 
west. Our own portion of the treeless region can be redeemed by forest- 
culture without any great difficulty or expense. We are, as it were, only 
on its borders. But when you get out among the sand-hills of the 
Coteaus, and among the breeding places of the migratory grass-hopper 
and Colorado beetle, you've struck a horse of another color. A big one, 
and not easily curried. 

I apprehend that the final redemption of the great treeless region of 
the continent, will be by the gradual approaches of the tree-planter from 
Minnesota, and other regions where rain-falls are sufficiently abundant 
to ensure a reasonable degree of success. 

My own impression is, that as these artificial plantations are increased 
and pushed gradually out into the treeless region, that the earth and the 
air will gradually become somewhat ameliorated ; that the excessive 
aridity will gradually yield to increasing moisture, and that rainfalls, if 
not more abundant, will be more durable in affect. Hence, the work we 
accomplish in redeeming our own portion of the treeless region, sheds 
its beneficial influences over Dakota, and as we incidentally help Dakota, 
Dakota will more than repay us in the groves and wind-breaks, she will 
be enabled to erect between us and Old Boreas. 

Now, about the cost of this work enough has been said to show that 
the cost varies with the locality in which the work is to be done. 
• I suppose that portion of the treeless region of Minnesota, which is 
intersected by the Main Line of the First Division St. Paul and Pacific 
Railroad, is a fair average of the treeless region of Minnesota — no better 
and no worse. Now, my experience in this work on that range of 
country, enables me to say with considerable confidence, that I can 
figure as closely on the cost of growing 40 acres of forest timber out 
there, as any farmer can on the cost of growing 40 acres of wheat, or of 
corn, I might truly say, with more certainty, for there is less risk in 
raising a (U'op of forest-trees ; if the corn fails to mature in season, no 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 145 

atonement is possible ; not so with the trees, if they get a back-set one 
year, they can make it all up the next. No crop grown for profit in 
Minnesota is more certain to afford satisfactory results. 

Growing Timber for Profit. 

In growing forest timber for profit, I should plant much closer than 
12 feet apart each way. I would advise planting first so as to be sure 
of complying fully with the requirements of the law ; and then, instead 
of planting corn or some other hoed crop, I would plant the intervening 
spaces with forest-tree seeds, so as to have an average stand of four feet 
apart each way. 

The object of thick planting is to compel the young trees to a correct 
habit of growth, and to sooner shade the ground, thereby shortening up 
the time of cultivation, and consequently, diminishing the cost of culti- 
vation. 

After two or three years of good cultivation, the annual shedding of 
the foliage of all the quick-growing varieties would so mulch the ground 
as to render further cultivation unnecessary. 

Ground psoperly broken in June, re-plowed in October following, can 
be planted at once. If you break too early or too late, I would not 
undertake to say when you could plant it. 

I can, however, say, without any mental reservation, that the men 
who commence breaking before the grass is good enough for their oxen 
to work on, or who continue to run their breaking plows after the prairie 
grass stops growing, are not only fooling away their time and labor, but 
laying the foundation for disappointment and failure. Every new comer 
is pretty sure to fall into this error unless warned, and even iihen, bitter 
experience is too often the result of knowing too much. 

Protection and Preservation of our Forests. 

Closely alied to forest culture is the preservation of our native forests. 
The rapidity of their destruction and the inevitable calamities resulting 
therefrom ought to awaken us to a lively sense of our duty in this 
regard. This rapid destruction of our native forests is increasing in exact 
ratio to the developement of the country. Drafts upon them which 
would have seemed incredible twenty-five years ago, are now made and 
honored with scarcely a thought of the future. 

Demands of Civilization on our Native Forests. 

In my address before the State Agricultural Society, one year ago, I 
estimated the annual consumption of wood in Minnesota, to call for an 
amount equivalent to the annual destruction of 150,000 acres of the 
native forests of Minnesota. Subsequent investigations confirm the truth 
of that estimate. We have probably 9,000,000 acres of fair average for- 
est in Minnesota. If our pesent condition remains unchanged, our sup- 
ply is good for about 60 years, but if we as a State keep step with the 
advance of civilization, there are persons now in this room who will 
live to see our present supply completely exhausted, unless the supply 
is renewed by artificial planting. 

If 600,000 people require 150,000 acres annually, 1,200,000 will require 
300,000 acres annually, which would exhaust the present supply within 
the probable lifetime of the young man just striking out for himself. 

Wisconsin is destroying her forests at an equally rapid rate. 

10 



146 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

50,000 acres of Wisconsin forests are cut annually to supply the Kan- 
sas and Nebraska trade alone. 

10,000 acres of forests goes into the stoves and furnaces of Chicago 
every year. Many additional thousands of acres are annually required 
to supply that city with the enormous conflagrations she has a habit 
of indulging in. 

The Lumberman's Directory for 1874-5 says, the Chicago lumber 
trade handles annually 1,350,000,000 feet of lumber, shingles and lath. 

This aggregate, enormous as it seems, is but one-tenth of the annual 
consumption of the country. 

The Chicago capital used in the lumber trade is $33,000,000. 

Within the last ten years 12,000,000 acres have been burned over, .sim- 
ply to clear the land. 

It is calculated that 8,000,000 acres are cleared every year, and only 
10,000 acres planted. 

The Tariff and Transportation. 

Two causes peculiar to this country increase the consumption of our 
own wood beyond its natural limits : 

The first is the tariff, which, by taxing foreign competition almost out 
of the market, concentrates our demand upon our vanishing forests. 

The second is, that prices do not advance, and so check demand. 

The reason for this is, that transportation is the chief element of cost 
in the wood delivered at our doors, and this increases so rapiply as to 
counteract the otherwise inevitable increase in price. I can buy cord 
wood for one dollar per cord on line of railroad within 110 miles of St. 
Paul, but transportation will make it cost me $3 per cord by the time it 
reaches this city. Gen. Brisbine, of the U. S. army, produces figures in 
support of the assertion that " at the present rate of consumption, in ten, 
or at most in twenty years, the forests of Michigan, Wisconsin and Min- 
nesota will be swept away." There is now left untouched, he says, in 
the whole territory of the United States, but one really fine belt of tim- 
ber — that growing on about one-half of Washington Territory and one- 
third of Oregon ; and this, when the Northern Pacific railroad is built, 
will soon be destroyed. Then the last great American Forest will have 
disappeared ; and by the way, I am credibly informed that the material 
for the construction of a common lumber wagon does not exist in that 
great forest, or indeed, west of the great plains. 

It should be borne in mind that to this time our great forests have 
met the demands and destruction of a gradually increasing population, 
from 3 to 40,000,000 people. We have now gone through and surrounded 
our great timber reserves, and we enter on the margin of the great tree- 
less waste, with our original store three-quarters consumed, the demand 
accelerated and the consumers to rise rapidly from 40,000,000 to 50,000,- 
000 within the last quarter of the present century. A little common 
arithmetic will satisfy any thinking man of the consequences, and of the 
proportion which the demand and supply will bear to each other at the 
close, as compared with the commencement, of this century. Extend the 
time another decade, with the added population, and it will be fortunate 
if our people get boards three inches wide, as in China at the present 
time. 

The Demands of Qlvilization. 

The increasing wants of civilization are running way ahead of the 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 147 

supply accumulated by the growth of past centuries. Forests, those vast 
aggregations of nature's forces, accumulated by an allwise power for the 
good of mankind, are melting away before the demands of the present, 
like frost before the morning sun. 

Civilization is dependent on the forests, and when they fail, civilization 
goes up the spout. 

In addition to the ever increasing demands of civilization, another 
element, fire, is annually making such ravages in our forests, that the 
ravages of the grasshopper and potato bug dwindle into insignificance 
in comparison. 

Between the demands of civilization and ravages from fire, our native 
forests are getting badly squeezed. Cvilization and fire will in time rob 
us of the Mississippi "river, unless this thing is checked and regulated 
pretty soon. 

When our northern forests and the big woods west of us have disap- 
peared, as they assuredly will, unless the State takes more interest in this 
question than it has hitherto been inclined to, who will care to live in 
Minnesota? 

Gentlemen of the legislature, if you have any regard for the best inter- 
ests of Minnesota, make it manifest bj' a liberal appropriation for the 
immediate encouragement of forest curture. Guard it as carefully as you 
please, but make it at once available. Don't stop there ; make arbor day 
a legal holiday. Organize a State Land Department ; and appoint a com- 
mission of the best men in the State to look into the condition of our 
northern forests. Encourage the people in every practical way to plant 
trees by the wholesale. Do this now, and the blessings of posterity will 
follow you. 

Government on Forestrg. 

I am not of those who are continually holding up the example of for- 
eign countries and governments as models for our own affairs. I do not 
believe in purchasing new red flannel shirts for the amelioration of the 
unfortunate infants of " Barrioboola Gha," while our own urchins are in 
want of shirts. I cannot say that I can fully appreciate that high toned, 
fashionable civilization which crowds the opera house of this city, to 
listen to the dulcet strains of the Hutchinsons, or the ponderous elo- 
quence of the companion of John Stuart Mill, Bradlaugh, or Queen 
Victoria, in picturing the beauties of country life in England ; while such 
men as Delano, Donnelly, Bishop, Marshall, Dunbar, Becker, Webb, 
Drake, McClung and others have great difiiculty in calling together a 
corporal's guard to take part in the discussion of home questions, upon 
the proper discussion of which the existence of civilization depends. 
But I do believe in applying the beneficial results of the experience of 
foreign nations in the correct solution of great national problems like the 
one now under discussion. 

When the Khedive of Egypt by a sensible expenditure of government 
funds in tree planting, demonstrates to the world the possibility of 
redeeming even the deserts of Africa, and rendering them subservientto 
the wants of civilization ; when the Government of France redeems entire 
provinces from ruin from drifting sands, which gradually rises upon 
crops 'as if they were inundated with water, and the herbage and even 
the tops of trees which appear quite green and healthy, even to the 
moment of their being overwhelmed with sand — arresting and effectu- 
ally staying the progress of this desolation, by j^lanting over 100,000 



148 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

acres with the maritime pine, (pinus pilaster) which now produces im- 
mense amounts of tar, resin, lampblack and timber ; when in the north 
of Germany immense tracts of loose, drifting sands have in like manner 
been covered with pine forests ; when even Russia has successfully 
employed the tree planter in fixing the surface of the sandy wastes in 
her southern pro^dnces ; when the bared mountain tops of Germany and 
Austria, of Sweden and Norway, are b}^ government authority being 
reclothed by the planting of new forests ; when at this time most of the 
goverments of Europe have, through the lessons of dear bought exper- 
ience, been compelled to recognize the importance of forestry, and en- 
courage it by all the fostering influences at their command ; — may not 
we, profiting by their experience, take timely warning, and by timely 
economy provide against approaching desolation ? • 

Civilization Dependent on Forests. 

The eminent scholar, G. P. Marsh, in his great work, entitled " Man 
and Nature," says : " If we compare the present physisal condition of 
the countries of which I am speaking (the Roman Empire) with the 
descriptions that ancient historians and geographers have given of their 
fertility and general capability of administering to human uses, we shall 
find that more than one-half of their whole extent, including the 
provinces the most celebrated for their profusion and variety of their 
spontaneous, and their cultivated products, and for the wealth and social 
advancement of their inhabitants, is either deserted by civilized man, 
and surrendered to hopeless desolation, or, at least, greatly reduced, both 
in productiveness and population. Vast forests have disappeared from 
mountain spurs and ridges ; the vegetable earth accumulated beneath 
the trees by the decay of leaves and fallen trunks ; the soil of the alpine 
pastures, which skirted and indented the woods, and the mould of the 
upland fields are washed away ; meadows once productive, fertilized by 
irrigation, are waste and unproductive, because the springs that fed them 
are dried up ; rivers, famous in history and song, have shrunk to humble 
brooklets ; the willows that ornamented and protected their banks are 
gone, and the rivulets have ceased to exist as perennial currents, because 
the little water that finds its way into their old channels is evaporated 
by the droughts of summer, or absorbed by the parched earth before it 
reaches the low-lands ; the beds of the brooks have widened into broad 
expanses of sand and gravel, over which, though in the hot season, 
passed dry-shod, in winter sea-like torrents thunder ; the entrances of 
navigable streams are obstructed by sand-bars ; and harbors, once marts 
of an extensive commerce, are shoaled by the deposits of the rivers, at 
whose mouths they lie." 

All this might have been prevented if the Roman grangers had passed 
a few bills for the encouragement of tree-planting. But they did'nt do 
it, and you now see what a fix they have got into, by not attending to 
tree-planting in season. 

The forests of Lebanon, once the supply of neighboring countries, 
have long since disappeared ; the mountain ranges of Syria, and the 
once powerful kingdom of Persia, are now dry, barren ridges of naked 
rock, absolutely incapable of re-producing the woods which once covered 
them. 

Large tracts in the interior of Asia Minor, and even portions of Italy, 
are now a horrible desert, seamed with ravines and gullies, or piled with 
ridges of sand and gravel, and utterly irreclaimable to the use of man. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL, 149 

Blanque, a French writer, quoted by Marsh, speaking of the destruc- 
tion of the forest in certain mountainous parts of France, says, that he 
found not a living soul in districts where he had enjoyed hospitality 
thirty years before ; the last inhabitant having been compelled to " get 
out of that " when the last tree fell. 

Gentlemen, your duty is plain. Ignore this plain duty, and the his- 
torian of the future will write of Minnesota, as an eminent writer, now 
writes of another region, using these words : " Many countries have, by 
the destruction of the forests, been deprived of rain, moisture, springs, 
and water courses, which are necessary to vegetable growth. 

" In Palestine, and many other parts of Asia, and northern Africa, 
which, in ancient times, were the granaries of Europe, fertile and popu- 
lous, similar consequences have been experienced. These lands are now 
deserts, and it is the destruction of the forests alone which has produced this 
desolation.'''' 

On this point I could enlarge indefinitely. Evidence of this character, 
from the most eminent scientists of both hemispheres, can be piled up 
mountain high, illustrating the absolute dependence of civilization upon 
forests. It is a question of not merely local, but of national importance. 
You are too well informed to need further argument. I trust I have not 
exceeded the bounds of propriety in merelj'- calling your attention in 
plain and unmistakable language to the prompt performance of an 
urgent duty. 

I could not do my duty by doing less. 

Fencing. 

I had fortified myself with a large amount of statistics on the destruc- 
tion of forests, and the inevitable results. But time is passing, and it 
takes a better man than I am to entertain an intelligent audience over 
thirty minutes. I had also, gathered some considerable information on 
the subject of fencing, although somewhat foreign, it is so intimately 
connected with forest-culture, as to really and fairly come within the 
scope of this discussion. I merely say, that restraining cattle and 
horses from running at large, would be a great encouragement to forest- 
culture in Minnesota, and an immense relief to the agriculturist. 

The cost of fencing against cattle and horses is the heaviest burden 
the Minnesota farmer carries. 

It costs the farmers of Minnesota more than two millions of dollars 
per annum to fence against horses and cattle ; enough to wipe out the 
old State railroad bonded indebtedness in short order, and leave some- 
thing for tree-planting. It occurs to me that the legislature should take 
such action as to relieve the farming community of this Herculean 
burden. The common law is clear on this point ; that owners of live 
stock must take care of them, or be held responsible for the damage 
they commit. 

An act of the legislature plainly interpreting the common law, and so 
spreading it on our statute books as to clearly define the rights, duties, 
and responsibilities of all parties concerned, is loudly called for. 

It is also a well established principle of common law, that private 
interests must give way to public intersts. On this principle, are based 
the laws of eminent domain. Under those laws, the public can run a 
highway through the middle of your farm, and you can't help yourself. 

A railroad corporation can run its lines through your private estate, 
condemn and appropriate to their own use such portions as their wants 



150 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

demand. Tliey can even, and sometimes do, tear down your houses and 
barns, and you are powerless to prevent it. You are in the way of the 
pubhc, you must get out of the way, for the pubhc have the right of 
way over all intervening obstacles. I am no lawyer, but have not lived 
over fifty years without finding out that "common law" is simply com- 
mon sense boiled down. 

Let us apply this jirinciple of common law, or common sense, to the 
question involved. Common sense revolts at the idea of the "tail wag- 
ging the dog." Yet, under the absurd statute laws of Minnesota, the 
tail of the dog swings the entire animal. 

Let us examine into facts bearing upon this question. Referring to 
the report of the Auditor of State for the fiscal year ending November 
30th, 1875, we find the total value of all the cattle, horses, mules and 
asses in Minnesota, to be $17,492,980. 

Referring to the latest statistics on crops, we find that they represent 
of crops that have to be fenced in from cattle and horses, not less than 
$40,000,000 annually in Minnesota, besides 20,000,000 young forest trees. 

Here we may place the fences necessary to protect the growing crop 
of $40,000,000, at a valuation of $20,000,000. 

We thus observe that we invest $20,000,000 in fence, to protect $40,- 
000,000 worth of crops from $17,492,980 worth of cattle and horses, or, 
in other words, we exhibit the ludicrous spectacle of a 117,000,000 
tail wagging a $60,000,000 dog. 

But there is a moral principle involved in this question which enters 
too largely into all its phases to be ignored. Under the laws of eminent 
domain, you split my well-fenced cultivated farm into two unequal 
sized, irregular shaped pieces. The arbitrary award of damages rarel}", 
if ever makes me whole, but I am further outraged by being compelled 
to erect a lawful fence each side of this public highway to protect my 
growing crops, my young orchard and my grove of young forest and 
ornamental trees from destruction from cattle and horses permitted by 
the statutes of Minnesota to run at large in this christian country, in 
this enlightened century, up to this centennial year. 

Those cattle and horses are simply trespassers. I am their victim. 
Their owners have neither the right to allow them to run at large, or to 
compel me to build that legal fiction, known as a lawful fence. 

When I was a youngster, I followed surveying for a livelihood, and I 
well remember the remark of an old Quaker, who gave me one of my 
first jobs, in running and establishing his boundary lines ; it was this : 
"Good line fences are the foundation of true religion." There is much 
truth in that remark, but a long experience compels me to believe that a 
general, sweeping herd law would promote true religion more eftectually 
than the labors of half the men who make the promotion of that cause 
a specialty. 

I feel safe in saying, that by far the greatest amount of difficulty and 
bad feeling in every agricultural community is caused and kept in full 
force, by keeping in force that relic of barbarism compelling the fencing 
in of crops. 

Any man who wants a new home, will give those counties the prefei'- 
ence who have had the good sense to adopt the herd law. Pass a general 
lierd law, applicable to every section of the State, and you wipe out a. 
relic of barbarism, promote Christianity, encourage tree-planting, encour- 
age emigration, and increase and ])i\)niot(' the general welfare. 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 151 

Number of plants or trees on an acre, at various distances apart : 

6 inches apart each wav 154,240 

1 foot " " "' 43,560 

lii feet " " " 19,360 

2 feet by 1 foot 21,780 

2 feet apart each way 10,890 

3 feet by 2 feet 7,260 

3 feet apart each way 4,840 

4 feet " " " . •. 2,730 

o " " " " 1,750 

6 " " " " 1,200 

8 " " " " 690 

10 " " " " 430 

12 " " " " 300 

15 " " " " 200 

18 " " " " 135 

20 '• " " " 110 

22 " '• " " 90 

30 " " " " 50 

Rows six feet apart, and trees one foot apart in the row, 7,315 trees 
per acre. 

Rows 8 feet apart, and one foot apart in the row, 5,434 trees per acre. 

Rows 10 feet apart, and one foot apart in the row, 4,389 per acre. 

One mile of wind-breaks or shelter-belt, riquires 5,280 trees or cuttings 
for a single row, one foot apart in the row. 

The white willow cuttings can be bought for $1.50 per 1000. 

Cottonwood cuttings, for $2.50 per 1000. 

Well-rooted yearling or seedhng Cottonwood .trees, ash, box-elder and 
soft maple, for $3.00 to $5.00 per 1000. 

Scotch Pine, 6 to 9 inches, $15.00 to $18.00 per 1000. 

European Larch, 8 to 10 inches, $10.00 per 1000. 

Robert Douglass & Son., Waukegan, Illinois, grow larch and evergreens 
more extensively, perhaps, than any other party in America. Send for 
their catalogue. 



REPORT. 

To His Excellency, Hon. John S. Pillsbury, Governor of Minnesota : 

Sir : — The act of March 2nd, 1876, making an appropriation of $2,500 
to the Minnesota State Forestry Association, requires that a report shall 
be made to the Governor, to be transmitted to the next Legislature, 
showing the disbursements of the same. In accordance herewith, I 
respectfully submit the following : 

On a call for a public meeting to be held at the capitol on Tuesday, 
the 11th day of January, 1876, for the purpose of organizing a State 
Forestry Association, signed by E. F. Drake, Wm. R. Marshall, Wm. 
Lee, Horace Thompson, H. M. Rice, Wm. Crooks, Herman Trott, M. S. 
Wilkinson, 0. P. Whitcomb, Ignatius Donnelly, Geo. L. Becker, H. H. 
Sibley, J. W. Bishop, and many others, said meeting was held in the 
hall of the House of Representatives, and a committee was appointed to 
report a constitution for such association, and on the 12th of January, 
at an adjourned meeting of the persons Avho had previously signified 
their desire to become members of such association, the said committee 
reported a constitution for said association, which was adopted, and the 
following named persons were elected officers of such association under 
said constitution, to- wit : 



152 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

President — E. F. Drake, of Ramsey county. 

Vice-President — First Congressional District, A. A. Soule. 

Vice President — Second Congressional District, Ignatius Donnelly. 

Vice President — Third Congressional District, J. H. Stevens. 

Secretary — L. B. Hodges, of Ramsey county. 

Treasurer — Pennock Pusey, of Ramsey county. 

Elective officers of Executive Committee — Charles Y. Lacy, of State 
University, G. W. Fuller, of Meeker county ; John P. Shoenbeck, of 
Nicollet county, and J. W. Blake, of Lyon county. 

On or about the first of November last, I was informed by State 
Auditor Whitcomb, that he deemed it necessary for the State Forestry 
Association to reorganize under the general laws of Minnesota, before he 
felt justified in paying over to said association any money appropriated 
by act of March 2nd, 1876. I at once notified the officers and members 
of said association, that a meeting for such purpose would be held at 
the Railroad Commissioner's office, at the capitol, on the 23d day of No- 
vember, 1876. 

Said meeting was duly held, and articles of incorporation were execu- 
ted, published and filed in the office of Secretary of State. 

Having thus acquired a perfect legal organization, the association at 
once commenced making arrangements for the payment of premiums 
offered for tree-planting last spring, and which were to be awarded to the 
successful contestants at the annual meeting of the association, com- 
mencing on the second Tuesday in January, 1876. 

The association, recognizing the importance of enlisting the vast army 
of children in the great work before them, made special provision for 
them in the list of premiums to be offered. 

To the bov or girl under ten years of age, in each county in the State, 
who planted not less than ten trees or twenty cuttings, was offered a 
Centennial Medal or Badge. 

To the hoy or girl in each county in the State, under 14 years old,who 
planted the greatest number on Arbor day, not less than two thousand 
cuttings, or one thousand trees, $5.00. 

For the second greatest number as above, not less than five hundred 
trees, or one thousand cuttings, $2.00. 

To stimulate the good work among " children of larger growth," the 
association offered for the greatest number, not less than seven thousand 
cuttings, or twenty-five hundred trees, planted by siuy oiie person on 
Arbor day, $10.00. 

For second greatest number as above, not less than four thousand 
cuttings, or fifteen hundred trees, $5.00. 

For third greatest number as above, not less than two thousand cut- 
tings, or one thousand trees, $3.00. 

For fourth greatest number as above, not less than one thousand cut- 
tings, or five hundred trees, $2.00. 

In addition to the above, Hon. F. R. Delano, of St. Paul, offered to 
the association fifty dollars each year for five years, to the man, his wife 
and children, who, in any one of the strictly prairie counties of Min- 
nesota, plants during the planting season of each year the most trees and 
cuttings, all kinds. 

The Pioneer Press Company, also, offers a copy of the Daily Pioneer 
Press to the party winning the " Delano Premium." 

The Pioneer Pi'ess Company, also, offered a copy of its Weekly to the 
party in each county in the State, who won the $10.00 premium! 



:PORESf fREE planters' MANUAL. 153 

The Saint Paul Dispatch, also, offered a copy of its daily, to the per- 
sons in each of ten of the prairie counties of the State, who should, 
during the entire planting season, plant the most trees and cuttings, not 
less than fifteen thousand cuttings, or five thousand trees. 

Results. 

In response to the foregoing offers of premiums for tree-planting, we 
have returns from fifty counties in Minnesota, showing that not less 
than fifteen hundred thousand forest trees and cuttings were planted on 
Arbor day, (the first Tuesday in May, 1876,) and that from 8,000,000 to 
10,000,000 were planted during the season of 1876. 

Arhw Day. 

I am often asked the meaning of Arbor Day, and why the greater 
portion of the premiums were offered for work done on that day. In 
answer, would say, that in this we copy from our neighboring States of 
Iowa and Nebraska, in dedicating one day during the planting season to 
tree-planting. This act of itself brings the matter of tree-planting before 
the minds of the people, and keeps it there to some purpose. 

The association, after a full and free interchange of experience and 
opinion, decided on the first Tuesday of May, as probably the best day 
that could be fixed on for Minnesota — neither too early nor too late. 

The experience of its members was very uniform in the necessity of 
planting as early as the condition of the ground would permit, 'in order 
to enable the young tree to get fairly to growing before the dry weather 
comes on in the spring. Another reason, was to correct the widespread 
prevailing opinion as to the amount of this kind of work an ordinary 
able-bodied man could do in one day. It was absolutely held by many 
that a thousand cuttings, or five hundred yearling, or two-year-old trees 
was a good, average day's work. My own experience in superintending 
the work of tree-planting on the Main Line of the St. Paul & Pacific 
railroad for several years, and on a more extensive scale than had hith- 
erto been executed in Minnesota, had fully convinced me of the necessity 
of disabusing the public in this regard. 

The tree-planting crew of the St. Paul and Pacific road, had for years 
averaged two thousand cuttings, or one thousand trees per man per day, 
and on extra occasions when it became necessary to save stock, whicli 
was in a perishing condition, they had doubled that, and on Arbor day 
of 1875, some of those boys planted between nine thousand and ten 
thousand cuttings each, a feat never before to my knowledge surpassed, 
yet the action of the association in offering so many premiums for this 
sort of work on Arbor day, has fairly eclipsed the performances of my 
old crew, in whom I took so much pride, and raised the standard to 
about where it should be. 

The men who can plant ten thousand cuttings each in a day, are by 
no means, scarce in Minnesota. 

The action of this association has also developed the fact, that there 
are plenty of boys from ten to fifteen years old, who, on Arbor day, 
planted from one thousand to seven thousand five hundred cuttings 
each, and that several children less than ten years old, planted from 
five hundred to one thousand each. Having thus in one year educated 
the people to about what they can do in this direction, the necessity of 
placing so many premiums for Arbor day performances, is not so press- 
ing, and the great bulk of the premiums hereafter to be offered should 



154 FORESt TftEE planters' MANUAL. 

be to parties doing the greatest amount of work during the entire plant- 
ing season. 

When we take into consideration that many hundred thousand trees 
are now' standing in Minnesota, which will yield from half a cord to 
one and a half cords each, have been grown from cuttings and from 
seedlings, within from ten to twenty j^ears, we see the great propriety of 
encouraging the children by the award of such premiums as will add 
new interest to the work ; and when we take into further consideration 
the unwelcome truth that nearly or quite one-third of the finest agricul- 
tural lands in Minnesota, amounting to not much less than twelve mil- 
lions of acres, are so destitute of timber, as not at the present time to 
afford much over an acre of timber to a quarter section of prairie, we 
begin to realize the fact that tree-planting to that portion of the State,is like 
the religion of Christ to the impenitent sinner, "the one thing needful." 
That vast region of prairie, with a soil " as black as ink," interspersed 
with running streams, lovely lakes and natural meadows of the finest 
native grasses, evidently designed by the Creator, as one of the great 
granaries of the world, can only be made habitable for dense communi- 
ties except through the intervention of the tree-planter. A few nomadic 
settlemente can now prosper by stock-growing in spite of the grasshop- 
per, but its present lack of timber forbids general settlement and cultiva- 
tion, and I fully endorse the sentiment of Prof. Lacy, that it is "cruel 
inhumanity" for the State to allure the immigrant into this region, 
without, at the same time doing its full part in the great work of render- 
ing this undeveloped region habitable for human beings. 

I think I am not putting it too strong in saying, that a ver}^ large pro- 
portion of the settlers now trying to develope that region will be com- 
pelled to abandon it within another decade, unless they soon commence 
a general, comprehensive and intelligent system of forest culture. 

The chief aim of the State Forestry Association is the ultimate redemp- 
tion of this region. In the terse language of the president of our asso- 
ciation, ^Hhe prairie must be conquered.''^ 

I have deferred making this report until now on account of many 
claims for premiums by contestants who have not in their returns com- 
plied with the rules and regulations of this association. 

Section 1 of the act of March 2d, 1876, clearly indicates that all moneys 
paid on premiums are to be awarded in accordance with rules and regu- 
lations to be adopted by this association. In conformity with this 
requirement, the State Forestr}^ Association, at its meeting in March last, 
in making out a premium list, also made and adopted the following 

Rules and Regulations. 

1st. — No trees or cuttings planted as above to be allowed to contest 
for any of above premiums, except such as are alive and in a healthy 
growing condition, and showing evidence of care and cultivation in the 
month of October next after Arbor Day. 

2d. — Each competitor to plant his own trees, but in case of sickness or 
unavoidable aljsence on Arbor Day, he can employ a substitute. 

yd. — All trees, cuttings or seeds to. produce the trees to compete for 
above prizes must be planted on Arbor Day, (except otherwise men- 
tioned), by the competitor or such substitute as he may employ, and 
the plantation for competition must not average less than 2,500 nor 
more than 4,856 trees to an acre. 

4th. — The competitor must count liis trees and cuttings and send 



FOllEST TREE PLANTERs' MANUAL. lo5 

report of number planted to the secretary of this association on or before 
the first day of June next. 

5th. — The competitor must, in the month of October next succeeding 
Arbor Day, in the presence of two witnesses, count his trees, (counting 
only such as are alive,) and make aflEidavit before a justice of the peace, 
or any officer authorized to administer oaths, as to the following matters : 

A. — Whole number of trees planted last Arbor Day and now alive. 

B. — Name and number of each kind. 

C— How planted. 

D. — How cultivated. 

E. — Cost of plantation. 

F. — Average size of each species. 

And such affidavit shall be certified to by both witnesses of the count ; 
and the officer administering the oath shall certify to the identity and 
credibility of the competitor and his witnesses. 

6th. — All trees planted to compete for these j^remiums are to be for 
permanent belts or groves and not to sell, except as they may be neces- 
sarily thinned out. when they may have become crowded. 

7th. — The affidavits prescribed above to be forwarded to the secretary 
at St. Paul, by the first day of December next after the count of the 
trees. 

8th. — No clubbing or joining of timber plantations upon lands owned 
by difierent parties, for the purpose of securing the premiums, will be 
allowed ; every tub must stand on its own bottom. 

9th. — Premiums will be awarded at the annual session of the associa- 
tion, commencing on the second Tuesday of January next after receipt 
of affidavits, and paid to order of party to whom awarded. 

For the purpose of obtaining statistics of timber planting, for 23ublic 
information, all persons not competing for the above premiums, who 
may make tree plantations, are requested to furnish the following points 
of information to the secretary, in return for which they will be given a 
copy of the transactions of this association : 

1st. — Acres planted, or rods of trees in line planted. 

2d. — Kinds, and number of each kind. 

•id. — How many lived and grew well. 

4th. — Cost of plantation. 

To which append name and address. 

Three thousand copies of the premium list, with the rules and regula- 
tions as above, were printed and distributed to every portion of the 
State during the month of March last. 

At the annual session of the association, held at the capitol, com- 
mencing on the second Tuesday of January last, for the purpose of 
awarding premiums, it was found that a considerable number of con- 
testants for premiuns, had, in making their returns, wholly ignored the 
established rules and regulations of the association. As there was 
nothing on the face of such returns indicating fraud, but rather evidence 
that the statements and returns had been made by parties to whom such 
work was new and unaccustomed, the committee on awards decided to 
extend the time for revising and correcting such imperfect returns, to 
the first of March next, and that the claims of all contestants failing 
to correct and perfect their statements in conformity with the rules and 
regulations of the association, by the time aforesaid, should then cease 
and be considered void and worthy of no further consideration. 

The amount of money actually awarded and paid over as county 



156 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

premiums, on claims made in accordance with the rules and regulations, 
is two hundred and fifty-eight dollars. The amount which is liable to 
be paid out on account of the suspended claims heretofore referred to, 
cannot be definitely stated at the present time, but will probably not 
exceed five hundred dollars. 

In the matter of obtaining the centennial medals and badges as pre- 
miums for the young tree planters, I found, on diligent application to 
the subject in hand, that such medals as would be at all appropriate or 
characteristic would have to be manufactured for the association. The 
next question to decide was, whether to have this work done by one of 
our own citizens and within our borders or in Chicago. I ascertained 
that the work could be done as well in St. Paul as in Chicago, and at no 
greater cost. 

I accordingly contracted with Mr. A. E. Melgren, of St. Paul, for the 
manufacture of not less than three hundred dollars' worth of medals 
and badges for premiums for tree planting. By the terms of the contract, 
the medals and badges were to be delivered to the association ready for 
distribution prior to the annual meeting of the association in January. 

A silver medal of coin standard, of the size of an American dollar, of 
appropriate and characteristic design, each medal to have a hole drilled 
through it, with ribbon and case, and to have the name of the person to 
whom awarded engraved on one side of said medal, and a wreath of 
forest leaves to encircle the name to be stamped in circle and at the 
outer edge. On the reverse side the words : " Minnesota State Forestr}^ 
Association, 1876," stamped in circle near the outer edge of the medal, 
and within this the figure of an oak tree. Such medal to be furnished 
as above for two dollars each. A copper medal exactly like the silver 
medal, and struck from the same die, to be furnished for seventy-five 
cents each. Acorn badges, of coin silver, to be mounted with pins so as 
to be worn as convenience might dictate, to be furnished for one dollar 
each. Acorn badges, the acorn of gold, mounted as above, for one dol- 
lar and twenty-five cents each. 

It is to be borne in mind that the award of this work to Mr. Melgren 
was virtually the inauguration of a new manufacturing interest in Min^ 
nesota. Dies had to be made, a new and powerful press had to be man- 
ufactured. Early in January the stamping of the medals had com- 
menced, but the accidental breakage of the press has delayed the 
completion of the job. 

As the outlay of Mr. Melgren in obtaining the proper machinery for 
the manufacture of the aforesaid medals and badges was largely in 
excess of the entire amount of his contract, the association advanced 
him two hundred dollars to commence with, and are to pay him the 
remaining one hundred dollars on completion of the job. 

An estimate of the money disbursed, or liable soon to be disbursed, by 
the Minnesota State Forestry Association, would read about as follows : 

Amount awarded and paid for premiums at the annual meeting, .... $258 00 

Amount to be paid in premiums on suspended claims, say 500 00 

Amount ])aid A. E. Melgren for medals and badges, 300 00 

$1,058 00 

Leaving an unexpended balance of the appropriation of March 2nd, 
1876, of probably about $1,442. In this connection, and just at this 
point, it is proper to say that the appropriation of March 2d, 1876, was, 
by the terms of the act, so tied up as to prevent the association from 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 157 

using any portion of said approjjriation for any other purpose than that 
of paying premiums. Not a dollar could be used for the publication of 
pamphlets on forest culture for gratuitous distribution among the peo- 
ple, not a dollar for the purchase of young trees and cuttings for gratu- 
itous distribution among people of the treeless region, who are anxious 
and willing to plant, but who, owing to the successive grasshopper raids, 
are unable to expend money for such purpose, in short, not even a dol- 
lar for postage stamps and stationery or any other necessary expense of 
the association All such expenses had to be incurred and paid, and the 
association has so far, by the voluntary contributions of its members, 
furnished the money for all its operating expenses, except for premiums. 

This voluntary cash outlay for incidental and unavoidable running 
expenses, which the association was compelled to make, in order to 
accomplish any of its purposes, (without which it might as well have 
disbanded at the outset,) includes the payment for printing and circu- 
lating one hundred and twenty thousand pages of printed matter on the 
subject of forestry ; for printing and distributing three thousand large 
hand bills, containing premium list and rules and regulations of the 
association; for publishing articles of incorporation, and for the station- 
ery and postage to enable the secretary of the association to keep up its 
correspondence, which has involved the writing and answering of over 
four hundred letters, on the subject of forestry in Minnesota. 

Among the reports and letters received by the association from parties 
engaged in forest culture in various portions of the State, are many that 
of too much practical and permanent value to remain in obscurity. 
They should be published for the instruction and encouragement of 
others who are now making their first attempts in forest culture in Min- 
nesota. 

The various essays, addresses and other papers of great practiacl 
value, which have been prepared and written at a large outlay of valu- 
able time by gentlemen who have the welfare of the State at heart, are 
voluntary contributions to the science of forestry. For all this outlay 
of time and of money in preparing and publishing this kind of infor- 
mation for gratuitous distribution among the people of Minnesota, the 
State has so far never contributed a dollar. It cannot reasonably be 
expected that this great work can much longer be upheld and success- 
fully carried on by the voluntary contributions of a handful of public 
spirited citizens. They have exemplified their faith by their works, and 
have demonstrated, beyond cavil or doubt, the practicability and impor- 
tance of the work. 

The Minnesota State Forestry Association is the pioneer institution for 
reclaiming and rendering habitable and productive the last great tract 
of fertile agricultural lands to which we can point the tide of emigra- 
tion. It is comparatively an easy task to turn an immense tide of 
immigration to that fertile region ; but without fuel, or timber, or shade, 
or shelter, can we keep them there ? That's the question. 

This association, if liberally aided by the State, cannot only draw the 
emigrant to this fertile but treeless region, but can keep him there by 
aiding and teaching him to render his new home pleasant, attractive and 
in every way desirable. 

No small outlay of time, labor or money is so sure to be attended 
with satisfactory results as in tree planting. The man who, by his intel- 
ligent foresight, has raised a beautiful grove of forest trees around his 
house and stock yard, has not only doubled the value of his farm, but 



158 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

has become so attached to that homestead as not to abandon it for trivial 
or imaginary causes. He is going to stay there. 

Of the hundred boys and girls of the treeless region, who have earned 
their centennial medal or badge this past season, at least nine-tenths of 
them will do better from year to year, if only encouraged. 

Every medal or badge so distributed becomes at once a preacher, a 
missionary of tree planting. The one solitar}^ boy out in Cottonwood, 
or Brown, or Stevens or any other treeless county, who has earned his 
silver medal or badge, shows it to all his playmates and acquaintances, 
and next season, instead of one boy hesitating, doubtfully taking hold 
of the good work, a dozen or may be a hundred resolute little fellows 
are eager and ready to "pitch in." Is there any better way to utilize 
and turn to good account this immense and irrepressible force of Min- 
nesota's share of Young America? 

We do not ask, or even expect aid enough from the State this year to 
utilize and put into operation this immense power, but we do expect 
some little aid in this direction. 

There is probably no branch of industry where the intelligent and 
correct application of common sense is more necessary to produce profit- 
able results than in agriculture, horticulture and forestry. Nearly all 
the failures that have occurred in tree planting are primarily the result 
of either ignorance or heedlessness. 

There is no more use of losing trees or cuttings from drought, than 
in losing wheat or corn from the same cause. When such losses do 
occur the planter is nine times out of ten more to blame than the weather. 

We need money to publish ten thousand copies of a small pamphlet 
giving the tree planter such correct and practical information as will 
enable him to do his work correctly, and consequently, successfulh^ 

The St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company having, through its changed 
management, abandoned tree planting, have donated millions of cut- 
tings and young trees to this association for distribution among the peo- 
ple of the treeless region. We need aid in rendering this donation of 
any value, aid to pay the actual cost of preparing the cuttings, and dig- 
ging the trees and shipping. A little aid now rendered by the State will 
enable us to place hundreds of thousands of cuttings and young trees 
in the hands of worthy men, who would, in transforming them into 
groves, wind breaks and land marks, render back to the State, in a short 
time, full value, j^ressed down and running over. The good results we 
can accomplish are onlv limited bv the amount Ave receive from the 
State. 

The association has carefully considered the question of how small 
an amount will enable them to make reasonable progress in tlie work in 
hand, and through their executive committee have placed the amount 
to be asked for of the Legislature at two thousand dollars, in addition 
to the unexpended balance of the appropriation of 1876. 

It is to be borne in mind that this is a new organization, and on trial 
before the State. It has a reputation to make for usefulness ; for ability 
to meet its promises, and for prudent and economical management. Its 
premium list, when circulated last spring, called forth in numerous 
instances, the remark, that like the State Agricultural Society, the asso- 
ciation would prove a failure, and that its premiums would never be 
paid. 

We point to our first year's record with an honest pride ; our pre- 
miums are being paid otf as fast as claims for payment are substantiated; 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 159 

every obligation of the association has been met at maturity, with the 
same promptness that for many years has characterized its prominent 
members in their individual capacity. When we can no longer meet 
our obligations with absolute certainty, we will close up the concern 
before any one has an opportunity to lose a dollar. 

We have abundant reason to believe, that the competition for such 
premiums as this association may offer the coming spring, will be con- 
tested with an eagerness and energy worthy of the cause, and that every 
dollar awarded by this association can be likened unto seed sowed on 
good ground, bringing forth an hundred fold. The direct effects of 
forest-culture, (I might more properly say, the immediate results,) are 
well illustrated in the case of the First Division of the St. Paul & Pacifie 
railroad company, as exemplified on its main line. At the time tree- 
planting was commenced on said line, in the spring of 1873, by order of 
Geo. L. Becker, then president of said railroad company, emigration to 
either railroad or government land on that line, west of Willmar, was 
small ; in fact, for some months after the memorable storm of January 
7th, 8th and 9th, 1873, more people abandoned that region than moved 
into it. I well remember the persevering efforts of the land commis- 
sioner of said company in endeavoring to get his share of what little 
emigration the State was getting at that time- -how difficult it was to 
get any one to go west of Kandiyohi county; how he called my attention 
to his original plan of " sectional farming," giving the settler time to 
break an entire section of six hundred and forty acres, and raise three 
crops on it without any cash payment — charging no interest, and taking 
full payment for the land out of the third croj) ; and how, with all his 
labor arid planning, and advertising, the railroad lands did^nt go off like 
hot cakes. And then, in March, 1876, when his department was taxed 
to its utmost capacity, when he was selling more lands than any land 
grant railroad in the United States, he came into my office one day, and 
in his quiet, kind way, says to me, " Mr. Hodges, I wish to do you the 
justice, to say that your tree-planting on our main line, is the best 
advertisement of the company's lands we have ever had, and is now 
worth more to us than all the money we have expended for advertising." 
From that date up to the grasshopper invasion of July last, no such 
rushing tide of emigration has been witnessed in Minnesota since 1857, 
as poured over the main line, from February to July, 1876. The Saint 
Paul and Pacific Railroad First Division Company, sold more land in 
1875, than any other land-grant company in the United States, and when 
I remark, that tree-planting on that line contributed as much or more, 
than any other agency in producing such satisfactory result, I am saying 
no more than the facts warrant. I mention this, that the State may avail 
itself of any agency in peopling our broad prairies, that the Dutch 
bond-holding interest fails to comprehend. 

Congressional Timber-culture Act. 

Before closing this report, I am compelled by the condition of exist- 
ing facts, to call your attention to the actual workings of the timber- 
culture act. Although repeatedly amended to meet the needs of the 
people and the country it seeks to benefit, candor compels me to say, it 
is not yet in good working order. As briefly as possible, I will point 
out some of the defects. First, it is requiring more of the settler than 
he is able to accomplish. The result is, in a very large majority of cases 
the law is not complied with any farther than to file the claim in the 



160 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL, 

land office, pay the entry fee and break ten acres. By this tune the 
settler begins to realize the nature of the contract he has undertaken to 
execute. He now sees clearly that he is too poor to do the work as it 
should be done. He begins to evade the plain intent and spirit of the 
law, in the painful economy of time and labor, he can so poorly afford 
to expend. Not that he wishes to defraud the government, or shirk his 
responsibilities, but rather from an inadequate realization of what must 
be done, and a natural desire to save what he has invested, and can so 
poorly afford to loose, leads him into such crooked practice as we see on 
nine-tenths of the quarter-sections held under the provisions of this act. 
Another defect in the law, is in the extreme facility land can be held by 
parties who make the claim, with no serious intention of planting any 
trees, but simply to do a little breaking and take his chances in selling 
his interest in it, in the course of the two years he can hold it, 
for a profit. In this way, and aided by extensions of time, granted on 
account of destruction by grasshoppers and other unavoidable accidents, 
large quantities of ' very dssirable government land is prevented from 
being occupied and improved by actual settlers. Thousands of acres of 
government lands are thus held, free of costs or taxes, and I see no 
difficulty in a company of ingenious operators, doing an extensive real- 
estate business under the workings of this act, for quite an extended 
and indefinite period of time. Another defect in the Congressional Tim- 
ber-culture Act, is the clause permitting the trees to be planted " not 
more than twelve feet apart each way." 

This is a very serious defect, and of itself, virtually defeats the objects 
and purposes of the act. Nature shows as plainly how forests aire 
grown, and it is folly on the part of Congress to evade or repeal natural 
laws governing the growth of forests. Nature plants thickly, pays no 
regard to the permission of Congress to plant so wide of the mark as 
twelve feet apart each way, and succeeds. In her own way she grows 
more timber and better timber on ten acres, than the settler can in the 
mode indicated by Congress, on forty acres, and at a tithe of the expense. 
To illustrate — forty acres planted twelve feet apart each way, must be 
thoroughly cultivated during the growing season of each year, until the 
growing trees have attained such proportions as to shade and mulch the 
ground. It requires the constant daily labor of the settler during the 
growing season, from May to August. The parties sought to be benefited 
by the act, are too poor to give so large a portion of their time to the 
work. The " human necessity for daily bread " compels their attention 
to the care of growing crops upon which existence depends. It is a 
notable fact, that thus far, the only successful and genuine cases of tree- 
planting under the provisions of this act, that have come under my 
notice, are those where the planter has been financial!}^ able to plant 
closely. Say, on an average of four feet apart each way. 

A forest so planted, with prompt and thorough cultivation for three 
years, is a success — the chief cost is terminated in three years from 
planting ; the young trees make a straight, upright, vigorous growth ; — 
they soon cover and shade the ground so thoroughly, as to effectually 
prevent the growth of weeds or grass among the trees, and the annual 
mulching from the falling foliage keeps the ground moist and friable, 
obviating the necessity of cultivation, and promotes the " healthy, grow- 
ing condition " which the act of Congress very properly requires. 

On the other hand, the evasions of the law are painfully conspicuous. 
In many instances, strips of breaking, three or four feet wide, parallel 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 161 

with each other, are either planted with tree seeds or cuttings, so as to 
bring them within distance allowed by law. The planting is usually- 
done in the raw sod — left without care or cultivation, smothered in rank 
weeds and grass, and swept over by successive prairie fires. It is 
difficult to employ language sufficiently vigorous in denouncing such 
childish lbll3^ It is as idle to expect to grow successfully a crop of 
forty acres of forest-trees without first breaking every foot of the forty 
acres, then followed after the decomposition of the sod, by thorough 
ploughing and repeated harrowing, as it would be to expect to grow a 
paying crop of corn by digging post-holes twelve feet apart each way on 
the unbroken prairie, and dropping the seed therein. A modification 
of the timber-culture act, requiring the settler to plant not less than 
2,700 trees per acre, instead of 300 per acre, and ten acres instead of 
forty acres, would accomplish the objects and j)urposes contemplated by 
the framers of the act, and in time, prove an incalculable blessing to the 
treeless wastes of the western and north-western States and territories. 
1 trust the action of the Lac qui Parle county agricultural society will 
be followed up by similar societies in the treeless regions of the north- 
west, that the legislatures of the dift'erent States interested therein, will 
take such action in the premises as will compel the favorable action of 
Congress in this behalf. 

The law to be available and productive of the greatest good to the 
people and to the country, should be so amended as to allow all who 
have already made claims under its provisions to be allowed to plant 
ten acres instead of forty ; to plant not more than four feet apart each 
way, to be planted within four years ; two and a half acres the second 
year ; two and a half acres the third year, and five acres the fourth year. 
To compel the claimant to report the actual condition of his timber 
plantation annually, to the register of the land office of the district in 
which the land is located. He should be, by the terms of the act, com- 
pelled to do his work in a thorough and workmanlike manner, to keep 
the ground well and thoroughly cultivated, until such time as the growth 
and development of trees shall have rendered such further cultivation 
impracticable and unnecessary. And he should be required to fill all 
vacancies occurring from any cause within one year ; such report to be 
verified bj^ the affidavit of the claimant, and also, by the affidavits of 
two competent and disinterested witnesses, failing in which, the land 
should be open to settlement by other parties. 

It is urged, in objection to such modifications of the timber-culture 
act, that Congress never would consent to give away sixteen acres of 
land for the planting of one acre of timber. 

Now, this objection brings up one more modification, and that is, to 
make the provisions of the act cover every quarter-section of govern- 
ment prairie land within the limits of what is universally recognized as 
the "treeless region," instead as now, only every fourth quarter section. 

Such legislation would, in a few years, so change the condition of that 
region as to render it for all time a self-supporting, revenue-producing 
region. The homes and the breeding places, and the hatching grounds 
of the red-legged migratory grasshopper, and of the red-skinned and 
migratory Sioux, would be invaded by an army of occupation come 
there to stay, and the ultimate results would be the settlement not only 
of the timber question, but of the grasshopper question, of the Indian 
problem, and of every variety of land grant schemes. Could Congress, 
by any other method, so dispose of this worse than a great blank on the 
map to any better advantage to the country at large? 11 



162 li'OREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

A grove of ten acres of forest-timber on every quarter-section of gov- 
ernment prairie land would change this desolate region into a veritable 
garden, the wilderness and the solitary place would rejoice and be glad 
thereof," and the climatic changes resulting therefrom, would be wide- 
spreading and of incalculable value. 

An act of the legislature of Minnesota, approved February 20th, 1873, 
entitled " An act to encourage the planting and growing of timber and 
shade trees," offers an annual bounty of two dollars an acre, and two 
dollars for each half mile or more of forest-trees planted along any 
public highway. Stimulated by this offer, numerous parties have in 
good faith planted and cultivated groves of timber, and have adorned 
the public highways with thousands of forest-trees. The law has been 
largely used by railroad companies and others, as an inducement to 
draw emigration to the treeless portion of the State, and in many 
instances, with good effect. Yet, parties who have been induced by the 
terms of this act to invest their time and money in tree-planting, after 
three years of patient labor and waiting, are coolly informed that there 
is, in no way, for them to get their promised bounty. I submit that 
such legislation is due these parties as will enable the State to keep its 
solemn promises and promptly redeem its pledges. As it now stands on 
our statutes, it is a fraud ; a delusion, and a snare to the unwary tree- 
planter, and a disgrace to the State. It expires by its own limitations 
within live years from its passage. Good faith to the men who have 
been induced by its promised bounties, demands prompt action from 
the present session of the legislature. 

Governor. — In behalf of the Minnesota State Forestry Association, 
of which you are a member, in behalf of the poor, shivering, hungry 
pioneer settlers, living in sod cabins, in board shanties and in holes in 
the earth, I thank you for the interest you have manifested in the objects 
of this association, and for the kind words of encouragement you have 
used in your annual messages, in commending this work to the consid- 
eration of the legislature. 

Verj^ respectfully, 

Leonard B. Hodges, 
Sec'y Minnesota State Forestry Association. 

Saint Paul, Feb. 9th, 1877. 



RELATIONS OF FORESTS TO WATER SUPPLY. 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 

"Plant trees" is the injunction we hear from almost everj' quarter of the civil- 
ized world. The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture now offers 
prizes for planting trees in a State in which the wanton destruction of forests has 
proceeded almost for centuries. 

The people of the United States, having thinned the forests of the Appalachian 
slopes, find beyond them a vast territory destitute of forests, and offer to give it 
to those who will plant one quarter of it to trees. 

The State of Iowa gives a certain exemption from taxation for the planting of 
trees, and her Horticultural Society offers premiums for the encouragement of the 
same work. 

The State of California offers premiums for the same purpose, and Nebraska 
has its "Arbor Day." Minnesota has laws encouraging the same work in a similar 
manner, and a Forestry Association is devoting its energies toward the same end. 

Editors and writers in agricultural papers, teachers and fruit growers are con- 
stant in their appeals to plant forests and protect from waste those we now have. 



FOREST TREE PLAKTERS' MANUAL. 163 

Our friend Hodges for years has pressed upon our attention the necessity of 
planting trees in Minnesota. 

Met on every side by these appeals, we ask, "What is the use of planting 
trees?" Have forests anything to do with the moral, physical or pecuniar^' 
interests of men? Do they mitigate or correct any evils? Do they confer any 
benefits or exert any beneficial influence? 

We may approach these questions by ascertaining the objections urged against 
certain sections of country, by noting the unfavorable reports and the appeals 
that reach our ears from different parts of the inhabited world. 

Talk to the immigrant about settling in the prairie counties west of the Big 
Woods, and if he knows anything of that treeless region, he will probably object : 

(1) That the winds are too violent. 

(2) That there is no wood for fuel, and no material for fencing. 

(3) That the landscape is too dreary and monotonous — there are no trees to 
give it a home-like appearance ; it is too lonesome. 

(4) That it is too cold out there. 

(5) That you cannot raise fruit there. 

Talk to him of some places, and he will object: 

(6) That they are unhealthy. 
Eeports come to us : 

(7) That the forests that now^ supply us with lumber for building and manufac- 
turing purposes, are fast melting away before the woodsman's axe. 

(8) The reports of destructive insect invasions have not yet ceased to vibrate 
in our ears. 

Every year we hear : 

(9) Of hail storms doing extensive injuries. 

(10) Of floods and freshets carrying away bridges and dwellings, and destroy- 
ing growing crops and human life. 

(11) Of the injurious effects of long continued drought. 

(12) Of the substitution of improved water wheels for those that formerly gave 
sufficient power, and finally the complete substitution of steam for water power 
in mills and manufactories. 

Every year we listen to : 

(13) Appeals for the improvement of commeix-ial water routes. 

All these objections, reports and appeals indicate imperfections that are com- 
monly supposed to be without natural remedy ; but it is claimed for forests, and 
with good reason too, that they are the natural remedy for some of these imper- 
fections, and the natural means of relief in the case of others. It is claimed for 
forests that they 

(1) Break the force and meet the fury of the winds, and thus afford shelter 
and protection to man and beast. 

(2) That they supply fuel and material for fencing. 

(3) That they give a home-like character to the prairie that is otherwise dreary 
and monotonous. 

(4) That they mitigate the cold of winter and the heat of summer. 

(5 ) That they improve the conditions for fruit growing. 

(6) That they improve the sanitarj^ character of some localities. 

(7) That they supply lumber for building and manufacturing purposes. 

(8) That they diminish insect injuries, and 

(9) The injuries of hail storms. 

It is claimed that forests affect favorably the water supply of a region : 

(10) Diminish the destructive effects of freshets, 

(11) Diminish the injurious effects of drought, 

(12) Increase the flow of springs, 

(13) Equalize the quantity of water in our mill and navigable streams, and 

(14) Distribute the rainfall throughout the year. 

It has been abundantly shown, in this and other States, that trees can be grown, 
in large numbers or in small, on any soil that will produce ordinary, farm crops. 
This is all that is required to establish several of the above claims. Every one 
has observed the capacity of trees : 

(1) To break the force of winds, 

(2) To supply fuel and material for fencing, 

(3) To furnish lumber for building and manufacturing. 

All who have traveled over the prairies know how welcome is the sight of 



164 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

a belt or group of trees, and how much more habitable and home-like is a house 
surrounded with trees than one standing alone. 

(4) If forests break the force of winds, we are prepared to understand how they 
mitigate the cold, for we all know how much colder it seems in windy than iii 
calm weather. Some of you have noticed the difference in passing from forest to 
open country. Firemen on railway trains observe that additional fuel is required 
to keen up steam on passing from wooded into prairie regions. 

('5) If forests break the force of winds and modify the cold of winter, they cer- 
tainly improve the conditions for the growth of fruit. Horticulturists are pretty 
well aereed upon the value of a protecting forest, either natural or artificial. 

(6) In a paper read before the American Public Health Association, last fall, 
Dr. Geo. L. Andrew, reached, among other conclusions, the following : that "forests 
and tree-belts are of undoubted value in preventing the dissemination of mal- 
aria;" that "trees are of positive sanitary value in affording shelter from the 
excessive heat of the sun, from the violence of winds, and in promoting ■ esthetic 
culture;" that in some cases "extensive tree planting is not unaccompanied with 
evil." 

(8) There is little doubt but that forests diminish insect injuries. Insects do not 
multiply so rapidly in and near the woods, for there the birds, the consumers of 
insects, build their nests and find protection. Marsh says: "It is only since the 
felling of the 'forests of Asia Minor and Cyrene that the locust has become so 
fearfully destructiA^e in those countries." It is pretty well established too, that 

the native breeding places of our locust are barren plains and not forest covered 
regions. I think it has been found, too. that the locust plague is less severe in 
and near forests than on the open prairies. There is good evidence to the effect 
that (8) forests render hail storms less frequent and severe. Hail storms on the 
plains of Lombardy are believed to be more frequent than before the clearing of 
the forests on the Alps and Appenines, and in several other provinces of Europe 
hail storms are believed to be more frequent and destructive since the clearing of 
the forests in their vicinity. 

I fear I have presumed greatly on your patience in presenting this lengthy 
introduction before entering on the more lengthy discussion of the relations of 
forests to water supply. 

This topic embraces, first, the influence of forests on rainfall and evaporation, 
including the influence on droughts ; and second, the influence of forests on drain 
age, including the influence on springs, streams and lakes. 

One word as to the character of our knowledge on this subject. It is not abso- 
lutely perfect. It is not entirely beyond doubt or question. We observe certain 
facts in connection with certain other facts, but we are not positive that one is the 
cause of the other. We observe springs ceasing to flow and streams diminishing 
and this keening steady pace with the destruction of the forests. We confidently 
believe the destruction of the forests causes the diminished water supply, but this 
result may possibly be caused by geological changes in the crust of the earth. 

Hence the evidence I shall present vou will consist in part of the convictions 
of men best qualified by their study of the subject to judge ; in part of observed 
facts which may possibly admit of question or of different explanations ; and in 
part of experiments which appear to be, and probably are, correct and reliable ; 
and, we may add, the support of our knowledge relating to the laws and condi- 
tions of rainfall and evaporation. 

In advance I wish to acknowledge mv indebtedness to the volume entitled 
"Man and Nature" by Hon Geo. P. Marsh, in which I find the fullest discussion of 
this subject, and from which I have quoted copiously in the following pages. 

THE RELATIONS OF FORESTS TO RAINFALL. 

Boussingault, a noted French authority on rural subjects, quotes an other French 
writer who says "that at Malta rain has become so rare, since the woods were 
cleared to make room for the growth of cotton, that at the time of his visit in 
October, 1841, not a drop of rain had fallen for three years." Boussingault further 
savs. "The terrible droughts which desolate tlie Cape A^'erd Islands, must also be 
attributed to the destruction of forests. In the Island of St. Helena, where the 
wooded siTrface has considerably extended within a few years, it has been obser- 
ved that the rain has increased in the same in-oportion. It is now in quantity 
double what it was duringthe residenceof Napoleon. In Egypt recent plantations 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL, 165 

have caused rains which hitherto were almost unknown." But in commenting 
on this testimony, Marsh says we have no evidence that Malta ever had any for- 
ests. In 1611 there were few trees there but such as bear fruit. The other state- 
ments referred to, have not been questioned. 

Schacht, a German writer, draws the following reasonable conclusions from well 
known facts : "The forest, presenting a considerable surface for evaporation 
gives to its own soil and to all the adjacent ground an abundant and enlivening 
dew. * * * * This increased deposition of dew on the neighboring fields, is 
partly due to the forests themselves ; for the dense, saturated strata of air which 
hover over the woods, descend in cool, calm evenings, like clouds to the valley, 
and in the morning beads of due sparkle on the leaves of the grass and the flowers 
of the field." 

Caultas, reasoning from established facts, thus concludes : "The ocean, winds 
and woods may be regarded as the several parts of a grand distillatorj^ apparatus. 
The sea is the boiler in which vapor is raised by the solar heat, the winds are the 
guiding tubes Avhich carry the vapor with them to the forests where a lower tem- 
perature prevails. This naturally condenses the vapor, and showers of rain are 
thus distilled from the cloud masses which float in the atmosphere, by the woods 
beneath them." This may sound like a pretty fancj' but concerning many of the 
facts there is not a particle of question. The sea, together with lakes is the boiler 
from which arises the vapor which later forms the rain falling on our fields. 
The winds are the guiding tubes which carry this vajior and distribute it over the 
earth. Reason and experiment both prove that in summer forests do make the 
air in and about them cooler than in the open countrj'. And it is beyond ques- 
tion, too, that this cooling influence is exacth' what is wanted to cause the fall of 
rain. But the doubtful point is whether this influence of the forest is ever act- 
ually suflicient to cause a fall of rain that would not otherwise occur. 

Sir John F. W. Herschel, enumerates among "the influences unfavorable torain, 
absence of vegetation in warm climates, and especially of tree. This is, no 
doubt, " continues he," one of the causes of the extreme aridity of Spain. The 
hatred of a Spaniard toward a tree, is proverbial. Many districts in France have 
been materially injured by denudation, and, on the other hand, rain has become 
more frequent in Egypt, since the more vigorous cultivation of the palm tree." 

" Hohenstein remarks : ' With respect to the temperature in the forest, I have 
already observed, that at certain times of the day and of the year, it is less than 
in the open field. Hence, the woods may, in the day time, in summer and 
toward the close of winter, tend to increase the fall of rain ; but it is otherwise in 
summer nights, and at the beginning of winter, when there is a higher temper- 
ature in the forest, which is not fiivorable to that eff'ect. * * * * The wood 
is, further, like the mountain, a mechanical obstruction to the motion of rain- 
clouds, and, as it checks them in their course, it gives them occasion to deposit 
their water. These considerations render it probable that the forest increases 
the quantity of rain ; but they do not establish the certainty of this conclusion." 

Barth, after describing the conditions of soil and atmosphere produced by 
forests, says : Thus, a constant evaporation is produced, which keeps the forest 
atmosphere moist, even in long droughts, when all other sources of humidity in 
the forest itself, are dried up. * * * * Little is required to compel the 
stratum of air resting upon a wood to give up its moisture, which thus, as rain, 
fog, or dew, is returned to the forest. *****. The warm, moist currents 
of air, which come from other regions are cooled as they approach the wood, by 
its less heated atmosphere, and obliged to let fall the humidity with which they 
are charged. * * * * *. in consequence of these relations of the forest to 
humidity, it follows that wooded districts have both more frequent and more 
abundant rain, and, in general, are more humid, than woodless regions ; for, what 
is true of the woods themselves, in this respect, is true, also, of their treeless 
neighborhood. * * * *. When the districts stripped of trees, have long been 
deprived of rain and dew, * * * * and the grass and the fruits of the field 
are ready to wither, the grounds which are surrounded by woods, are green and 
flourishing." This, you will observe, is a purely theoretical conclusion. 

Asbjornsen, who, like the last, is a Scandinavian writer, says : " The narratives 
of travellers show the deplorable consequences of felling the woods in the Island 
of Trinidad. Martinique, San Domingo, and, indeed, in almost the entire West 
Indian group. * * * * In Palestine, and many other parts of. Asia and 
Northern Africa, which, in ancient times, were the granaries of Europe, fertile 
and populous, similar consequences have been experienced. These lands are 



166 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

now deserts, and it is the destruction of the forests alone which has produced 
this desolation. * * *. In Southern France, many districts have, from the 
same cause, become barren wastes of stone, and the cultivation of the vine and 
the olive has suffered severely since the baring of the neighboring mountains. 
Since the extensive clearings between the Spree and the Oder, the inhabitants 
complain that the clover crop is much less prodiictive than before. On the other 
hand, examples of the beneficial influence of planting and restoring the woods 
are not wanting. In Scotland, where many miles square have been planted with 
trees, the effect has been manifest, and similar observations have been made in 
several places in Southern France. In Lower Egypt, both at Cairo, and near 
Alexandria, rain rarely fell in considerable quantity — for example, during the 
French occupation of Egypt, about 1798, it did not rain for sixteen months ; but 
since Mehemet Ali and Abrahim Pacha, executed their vast plantations, * * * 
there, now, falls a good deal of rain, especially along the coast, in the months of 
November, December and January, and even at Cairo, it rains both oftener and 
more abundantly, so that real showers are no variety." 

Babinet, a French writer, says : "The forests of the Vasges and Ardennes, 
produce the same effect,'" (increased rain-fall), " in the north-east of France, and 
send us a great river, the Meuse, which is as remarkable for its volume as for the 
small extent of its basin. Babinet repeats the suggestion of Mignet, that, to 
produce a rain, a forest was as good as a mountain," and he adds, "this is literally 
true." 

Another French writer says : " For it is established that in wooded countries, 
it rains oftener, and, that the quantity of rain being equal, they are more humid." 

Boussingault, who is an authority in agricultural science, thus sums up : — 
" Arguing fi-om the meteorological facts collected in the agricultural regions, there 
is reason to presume that clearings diminish the annual fall of rain." And again 
he says : " In my judgment, it is settled, that very large clearings must diminish 
the annual fall of rain in a country. 

Marsh, also, gives us the other side of the story. He says : " On the other 
hand, Faissac expresses the opinion, that forests have no influence on precipita- 
tion, beyond that of promoting the deposit of dew in their vicinity, and he 
states, as a fact of experience, that the planting of large vegetables, and especially 
of tree, is a very efficient means of drying morasses, because the plants draw 
from the earth a quantity of Avater larger than the average annual fall of rain. 
Kloden, * * * '■' denied that the diminution of volume "(in the Oder and 
Elbe)," is to be ascribed to a decrease of precipitation in consequence of the fell- 
ing of the forests, and states, what other physicists confirm, that, during the same 
period," (since 1878,) " meteorological records in various parts of Europe show 
rather an augmentation than a reduction of rain." Marsh also, gives the obser-; 
vations of Belgrond, which " tend to show, contrary to the general opinion, that 
less rain falls in wooded than in denuded districts. Observations were made at 
stations about eight miles ai:)art in two valleys, believed to be alike in all respects, 
except that one was entirely bare, the other well wooded. The rain-fall was as 
follows : 

Min. 

For three cold months, in the cleared vallev 179.7 

" " wooded " ' 1041 

" five warm " " " cleared " I08.6J 

" " " wooded " 149.6 

Marsh says : " This result is so contrary to what has been generally accepted 
as a theoretical conclusion, that further experiment is required to determine the 
question." He thus sums up the whole subject of forest influence on rain-fall : 
"The eftectof the forest then is not entirely free from doubt, and we cannot, 
positively affirm, that the total annual quantity of rain is diminished or increased 
by the destruction of the woods, though both theoretical considerations and the 
balance of testimony strongly favor of the opinion, that more rain f\ills in 
wooded than in open countries. One imi)ortant i-onclusion, at least, upon the 
meteorological influence of forests, is certain and undisputed ; the proposition, 
namely, that, within their own limits, and near their own borders, they maintain 
a, more uniform degree of humidity in the atmosphere than is observed in the 
cleared grounds. Scarcely less can" it be questioned, that they promote the fre- 
quency of showers, and, if they do not augment the amount of precipitation, 
they e([ualize its distribution through the different seasons." 

From other sources, we gatlier some evidence. Prof JNlathiews, of the School 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS* MANUAL. 167 

of Forestry, near Nancy, in France, has given the results of some experiments, 
which have been translated by Hon. W. C. Flagg, of Illinois. For nearly three 
years, the rain-fall was measured at two stations, about twelve miles apart, the 
attitude, and all other conditions, so far as known, being the same, save, that one 
was in the midst of a forest plateau, and the other in the midst of a farming 
region. The rain-fall was as follows : 

Last 8 months, 1866, forest plateau, 27.25Jf inches, farming region .... 23.25^ 
Whole year. .1867, " " 36.44| " " "... .34.93 

" . . 1868, •' '• 29.48^ " " " . . . . 24.25 

A consecutive difference in favor of the forest plateau of 4 inches, 2^ inches, 
and 4i inches. A difference that would be considered conclusive proof by any 
one that is acquainted with experiments of this nature. But, you remember 
we did not accept, as final, the experiment giving a contrary result. So with this, 
we must regard it simply as one link in the chain of evidence, albeit, a strong 
one. 

Careful and thoughtful observers in this country are almost unanimous in the 
belief, that forests tend to a better distribution of the rain-fall, if they do not 
actually augment it. Prof. Eiley, a few years since in a horticultural convention, 
expressed a doubt about the influence of forests on rain-fall, and could find no 
one to agree with him. 

Speaking of records of rain-fall, which he had prepared. Prof. F. B. Hough, 
says : Although they reveal great irregularities in a series of years at any given 
locality, they do not justify us in supposing that, in the general average of periods, 
the amount is sensibly increasing or diminishing, although they do show, in some 
rases, greater tendencies to drouth for a series of years together, and often a more 
unequal distribution of rain throughout the year. This growing tendency to 
droughts and floods can be directly ascribed to the clearing up of wood-lands, 
by which the rains quickly find their way into the streams, often swelling them 
into destructive floods, instead of sinking into the earth to reappear as springs." 

The report of a congress of land and forest-cultivators, held in Vienna, after 
naming manj' cases of the influence of forests on rain-fall already mentioned in 
this paper, describes and mentions the following:" Ismalia, upon the Suez canal, 
was built upon a sandy desert ; but since the ground has been saturated with 
water, trees, bushes and plants have grown, and with the appearance of 
vegetation, the climate has changed. Four or five years ago, says the report, rain 
was unknown in these regions ; but in the year, from May, 1868, to May, 1869, 
there were fourteen days of rain. So, also, near Trieste, a finely wooded district, 
was destroyed by the Venetians, and twenty-five years ago rain had ceased to 
fall ; but, to save the country from total abandonment, the Austrian government 
planted several millions of olive trees. It is stated, also, that the conversion of 
the desert of Utah into a blooming country, has raised the Salt Lake seven feet 
above its old level. The volume of water in the Ohio, is stated to be evidently 
diminishing. The same is true of the Hudson, upon which the extent of navi- 
gable water is yearly receding. " I would ask you, can it be successfully denied 
that the same thing is true of the Mississippi, and other streams of the State. 
And if not, is there any better reason for it, than the destruction of the trees at 
their rise, and and along their courses ? Thus, it seems to me, is the influence of 
forests on evaporation. 

Every one knows that of the water falling as rain, a part sinks into the soil 
and a part dries away. What is the influence of forests on the latter part ? 
Trees, themselves draw from the soil, through their roots large quantities of 
water and exhale it in the form of vapor from their leaves. For large trees the 
quantity exhaled is estimated at one, two and even three barrels daily when in 
full growth. On the other hand the shade of the branches and foliage and the 
coating of dead leaves on the surface of the ground by intercepting of the rays of 
the sun and keeping the ground cool, retard very greatly direct evaporation from 
the soil itself ProE Mathiew, carried his experiments to this point and he found 
that the evaporation in the open field was four or five times as much as from the 
forest. The same conditions, too, that retard evaporation, favor the absorption 
and condensation of vapor from the air. But the retention and acquisition of 
moisture by the soil, appears to be in excess of the loss by evaporation from the 
soil and by exhalation from the leaves combined, for the soil of the forest itself 
does not show the effects of drouth until long after cleared lands are dry and 
jjarcheu. Forests (certainly diminish eva^joration from adjacent cleared lands. 



168 FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANtTAL. 

The roots of the forest trees pump no water from these grounds and the trees 
diminish direct evaporation because they break the force of the winds and the 
drying power of wind, air in motion above that of air at rest, is well known. 
Thus at one end there is strong reason for believing that forests increase the fall 
of rain, while at the other end, they certainly diminish the loss of water by evap- 
oration. Such being the case forests must diminish the severity of drouth. 

It remains to note the influence of forests on drainage, — their effect on springs 
and lakes and streams and floods. The files of American agricultural journals 
contain many instances of springs diminishing or ceasing in their flow with the 
disappearance of surrounding or adjacent forests, but so far as I know these cases 
have never been gathered into a single volume, so that I am again obliged to bor- 
row European examples from Marsh's Man and Nature. He says : As the for- 
ests are destroyed, the springs which flowed from the woods, and consequently 
the greater water course fed by them, diminish both in number and in volume. 
This fact is so familiar through the American States and British Provinces, that 
there are few old residents of the interior of those districts who are not able to 
testify to its truth as a matter of personal observation. My own recollection sug- 
gests to me several instances of this sort, and I remember one case where a small 
mountain spring, which disappeared soon after the clearing of the ground where 
it rose, was recovered about ten or twelve years ago, b}^ simply allowing the bushes 
and young trees to grow up on a rocky knoll, not more than half an acre in ex- 
tent, immediately above it, and has since continued to flow uninterruptedly. The 
uplands in the Atlantic States formerly abounded in sources and rills, but in many 
parts of those States which have been cleared for above a generation or two, the 
hill pastures now suffer severely from drouth, and in dry seasons no longer afford 
either water or herbage for cattle." 

Clane gives an example in the forest of Mendon near Paris, and says : "After a 
few rainy days pass along the Chevreuse road, which is bordered on the right by 
the wood, on the left by cultivated fields. The fall of water and the continuance 
of the rain have been the same on both sides ; but the ditch on the side of the 
forest will remain filled with water proceeding from the infiltration through the 
wooded soil, long after the other, contiguous to the open ground, has performed 
its office of drainage and become dry. The ditch on the left will have discharged 
in a few hours a quantity of water, which the ditch on the right requires several 
days to receive and carry down to the valley." 

Another case "before the felling of the woods, within the last few years * * 
* * the same furnished a regular and sufficient supply of water for the iron 
works of Unterwyl, which was almost unaffected by drought or by heavy rains. 
The same has now become a torrent, every shower occasions a flood, and after a 
few days of fine weather, the current falls so low that it has been necessary to 
change the water wheels, because those of the old construction are no longer able 
to drive the machinery, and at last to introduce a steam engine to prevent the 
stoppage of the works for the want of water." 

Another case. "When the factory of St. Ursaune was established, the river 
that furnished its power was abundant, long known and tried, and had from time 
immemorial, sufficed for the machinery of a previous factory. Afterward the 
woods near its sources were cut. The supply of water fell off in consequence, the 
fixctory wanted water for half the year, and was at last obliged to stop altogether." 

"The Wolf Spring furnishes a remakable example of the influence of the woods 
upon fountains. A few years ago this spring did not exist. At the place where 
it now rises, a small thread of water was observed after very long rains, but the 
stream dissappeared with the rain. The spot is in the middle of a very steep pas- 
ture inclining to the south. Eighty years ago the owner of the land, perceiving 
that young firs were shooting up in the upper part of it, determined to let them 
grow and they soon formed a flourishing grove. As soon as they were well grown, 
a tine spring appeared in place of the occasional rill, and furnished abundant 
water in the longest droughts. For forty or fifty years this spring was considered 
the best in the Clos du Doubs. A few years since the grove was felled, and the 
ground turned again to a pasture. The spring disappeared with the wood and is 
now as dry as it was ninety years ago." 

Marsh quotes another case in which the forest is felled in regular succession 
once in twenty years. "As the annual cuttings approach a certain point, the 
springs yield less water, some of them none at all ; but as the young growth shoots 
up, they flow more and more freely, and at length bubble up again in all their 
original abundance." 



FOREST TREE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 169 

Marsh also quotes from Der. Pifer the following American example. "Within 
about half a mile of my residence there is a pond upon which mills have been 
standing for a long time, dating back I believe, to the first settlement of the town. 
These have been kept in constant operation until within some twenty or thirty years, 
when the supplj^ of water began to fail. The pond owes its existence to a stream 
which has its source in the hills which stretch some miles to the south. Within 
the time mentioned, these hills, which were clothed with a dense forest, have 
been almost entirely stripped of ti-ees ; and to the wonder and loss of the mill 
owners, the water in the pond has failed, except in the season of freshets ; and 
what was never heard of before, the stream itself has been entirely dry. Within 
the last ten years a new growth of wood has sprung up on most of the land form- 
rly occupied by the old forest ; and now the water runs through the year notwith- 
standing the great droughts of the last few years." 

A letter from Wm. C. Bryant, the poet and editor, is also quoted. " It is a 
common observation that our summers are become drier and our streams 
smaller. Take the Cuyahoga as an illustration. Fifty years ago, large barges 
loaded with goods, went up and down that river, and one of the vessels engaged 
in the battle of Lake Erie, in which the gallant Perry was victorious, was built 
at Old Portage, six miles north of Albion, and floated down to the lake. Now, in 
an ordinary stage of water, a canoe or skiff can hardly pass down the stream. 
Many a boat of fifty tons burden has been built and loaded in the Tuscarawas, at 
New Portage, and sailed to New Orleans without breaking bulk. Now, the river 
hardly affords a supply of water, at New Portage, for the canal. The same may 
be said of other streams — they are drying up. And from the same cause, the 
destruction of our forests, our summers are growing drier, and our winters 
colder." 

Other cases might be added, but it is unnecessary. Those given are 
in accordance with reason. The soil of forests is nearly always more 
open and porous, than that of cleared land. So that rain, instead of 
flowing off as it falls, sinks into the soil to reappear gradually in the springs 
that feed the rivulets and irrigate the meadows. Besides, the porosity of the 
soil, the surface is coA^ered with leaves and twigs and roots, which impede the 
flow of water over the surface and cause it to sink away into the soil. Snow fall- 
ing in the woods does not melt away so suddenly, as on cleared land, and the 
water from it reaches the streams later than that from the cleared lands, 
thus diminishing the height, but prolonging the period of high water. 

And now, in conclusion, I would ask. In view of the opinions of those well 
qualified to judge, and in view of the facts cited, can it be doubted that the 
unsparing destruction of forests is attended with disastrous results ? In view of 
the same, and of other facts stated in this paper, can it be doubted that the plant- 
ing of forests, in treeless regions, especially, will be attended with equally good 
results ? Can it be doubted that extensive tree-planting will improve the distri- 
bution of, if not actually augment the annual rain-fall. Can it be doubted, that 
it will diminish the devastation of freshets, and Shorten the duration of drouths? 
Can it be doubted, that it will maintain the number and volume of our springs ; 
equalize the supplj"^ of water in our lakes and streams, and thus preserve naviga- 
tion in our inland streams, and power for our mills and manufactories ? I have 
tried to put you in possession of the facts, gentlemen, I leave it to your judg- 
ments to answer these questions. 

What the Minnesota State Forestry Association 'did to aid the grass- 
hopper sufferers in 1877. 

The spring of 1877 opened inauspiciously for the tree planters of 
Minnesota. Those on the great prairies had been harrassed by grasshop- 
pers, machine agents and creditors, "till they couldn't rest." 

Discouraged and disheartened by repeated losses and failures, many 
who had in good faith entered timber claims, were on the point of iaban- 
doning them from sheer inability to purchase the much needed trees and 
cuttings for immediate planting. 

I was overwhelmed with letters from such parties asking for aid. Call- 
ing the executive committee of the Association together, they appropri- 
ated a small amount for the purchase and distribution of trees and cut- 
tings to the most unfortunate of the applicants. 

n 



170 FOREST TKEE PLANTERS' MANUAL. 

I immediately addresed a circular letter to all the County commission- 
ers of the treeless counties, asking them to forward the names of worthy 
parties, who having in good faith entered timber claims and by reason 
of grasshojjper damages were unable to plant, and were thereby in emi- 
nent danger of loosing their claims — to forward the names of such only 
as would if aided, so apply the aid as to carry out the provisions of the 
timber culture act, and thereby save their claims. 

In response thereto several hundred names were forwarded to me by 
the Commissioners. 

Of these one hundred and seventy -three applicants were aided to an 
extent sufficient to save their tree claims. 

Three hundred and thirty-eight thousand (338.000) white willow and 
Cottonwood cuttings, and one hundred and eighty thousand (180.000) 
ash and cottonwood trees, were thus distributed, and one hundred and 
seventy three good men relieved and encouraged to prosecute their good 
work at the expense of the State of $534.12. 

The timber for the 338.000 cuttings and 120.000 of these trees were 
generously donated to the Association by the St. Paul & Pacific Rail- 
road company. 

In the spring of 1878, the Association offered $1,800.00 in premiums to 
be distributed in accordance with the rules and regulations as published 
in compliance with the law granting the appropriation. 

The tree planters competing therefor generally, ignored the prescribed 
rules and regulations, and of the $1,080.00 so offered, but $135,00 was 
awarded. 

With this experience before them, the Executive Committee have not 
up to this writing made up a premium list for 1879. 

The cost of preparation, publication and distribution of this pamphlet, 
will probably be of as much service to forest culture in Minnesota, as the 
same amount would be if distributed in premiums. 

I have for many years collected and carerully preserved thousands of 
items bearing on forestry ; and from this varied mass have selected such 
as seemed to me practical and reliable. I could have more easily embod- 
ied twice as much. The great difficulty has been to throw overboard 
much that was worthy of preservation, but which we could possibly do 
without. 

In these pages will be found sufficient information to enable any one 
of average ablility to grow his own fuel, shelter and shade. 

I have aimed to give just the information called for in the thous- 
ands of letters I have received on this subject, and can only sa}' to 
enquirers, study this little work thoroughly and you will find therein a 
substantial answer to all reasonable interrogatories. 

In conclusion, I wish to, so far as possible, make amends for the whole- 
sale raid I have hereby made in pursuit of knowledge under difficulties. 
I acknowledged to having plundered every available source of informa- 
tion for what I was after, and now having obtained it and spread it 
among the people, plead Pro Bono Publico as my excuse. If I have 
done wrong I am willing to be forgiven. This Avork has been rushed 
through at railroad speed, in hurried moments snatched from pressing 
duties. I have pursued it con amore, and hereby dedicate it to the great 
army of tree planters in Minnesota, with the single word PERSEVER- 
ANCE. 

Saint Paul, Minnesota March, 19th, 1879. 



nsriDEx:. 



Preface. 

Prepraation of the soil , 4 

Time to break prairie 4 

Manner of breaking prairie 4 

Clean culture necessary 4 

Proper treatment of cold, sour, level prairie 5 

Its great value when regenerated, and its adaptability to trees, wheat, grasses and 

other crops 5 

Manner of planting 5 

Objects of tree planting 7 

Close planting. 6 

Proper distribution of trees when planted 6 

Nature's method of planting 7 

Development of grub-prairie into forest 6 

Varieties of trees suitable for forest culture in Minnesota 8 

Varieties of trees suitable for planting along highways 8 

Notes on the Big Woods by Prof. N. H. Win chell - 14 

The Great Coniferous District, by J. A. Wheelock 17 

Natural adaptability of the tree to its location 16 

Shelter-belts or wind breaks 19 

Whiting, Judge C. E 19 

Dr. Hough's report on forestry ' . . . 19 

Varieties of trees for shelter-belts 19 

Cuttings — how to prepare and plant them 20 

Evergreens for shelter-belts 20 

White willow 27-32-33-34-35 

The propagation of trees from cuttings 29 

The ash and the larch 35 

Larch plantations of the Duke of Athol . 36 

A plea for the evergreen, by Jno. K, Kepner 5^ 

The planting of J. H. Brown, of Lac qui Parle 5^ 

The beech 63 

The chestnut 26 

The soft maple 64 

The box alder 65 

The oak . . . . ' 66 

The elm 9-23 

The Cottonwood 11 

The catalpa 24 

The black walnut 10-96 

The butternut - . . . 10 

The sugar maple ^o 

Prof, W, H. Brewer 65 

Prof. Newberry 66 

Sowing and planting 68 

Should we sow or plant ? 68 

Experience of European foresters . 69 

Condition most favorable to the growing of forest seeds 68 

Gathering of forest tree seeds 69 

Methods of planting forest tree seeds 72 



172 INDEX. 

Shelter to young trees in nurseries 7j 

Number of trees to the acre 7j 

Plantation of different species 75 

Relative value of growth at different ages 75 

Growth of wood in different years 76 

Advice of Horace Greely on tree planting 76 

Evelyn or preparations for tree planting 77 

Practical view of the timber question, by Hon. C. E. Whiting 77 

Tree planting in Massachusetts, by Emerson 79 

Profits of tree planting, by O. B. Galusha , 80 

Rules for evergreen culture, by E. Farrand 81 

Method of cultivation by the winner of a prize , 81 

Timber growing in Nebraska 82 

Close planting of cottonwood, by C, E. Whiting 83 

Thinning of plantations 83 

Means of destruction of insects infesting trees 85 

Shelter for fruit trees, by Dr. J. A. Warder 87 

Timber belts for farm protection, by W. Marlatt 89 

Timber belts for farm protection, by H. M. Thompson 91 

Timber belts for farm protection, by Prof. H. H. McAffee . 92 

Need of wind breaks for the protection of human life 92 

Screens of wood land as a barrier to insects 93 

Directions for planting larch and pine 94 

Experience of D. C. Scofield in tree planting 95 

Experience of tree culture in Illinois 98 

Comparative value of woods for fuel . 99 

Experiments in tree planting, by Jos. S. Fay loo 

Suitable trees for shelter belts 103 

Experience of Illinois Industrial University in tree planting 103 

Causes of failure in evergreens 104 

Arbor Day in Minnesota 106 

Constitution of Minnesota State Forestry Association 105 

Advice of Col. J. H. Stevens on tree planting 107 

Statistics of tree planting in Minnesota 108 

Tree planting in Kansas 109 

The Congressional Timber Culture Act, with instructions, rules, regulations, etc . 109 

Pruning and thinning 118 

Mountain forest, and the water supply of the continent : an open letter from Dr. 

Marder to Carl Schurz 120 

Annual meeting of Minnesota State Forestry Association 123 

Address of Ignatius Donnelly , 123 

Election of officers of the M. S. F. A 126 

Address of Prof. Lacy to the M. S. F. A 127 

Extracts from an essay read at the annual meeting of the State Agricultural Society 

at the State University, February 5, 1875, by Leonard B. Hodges 126 

Timber area of various counties in Minnesota 133 

Teaching of many years' experience in forest culture, by W. S. Brockman .... 139 

Forestry in Minnesota (L. B. Hodges) 132 

Number of trees on an acre (tabulated) at various distances apart 151 

Report of M. S. F. A. to the Governor 151 

Relation of forests to water supply, by Prof. Lacy 162 



Binder*, ^, 



